Key facts
- NHS England deleted a claim that 137 hospital trusts were benefiting from Palantir's federated data platform.
- Twenty-nine trusts said the system was not live or they were not using any of its applications, the Guardian reported.
- Ministers are weighing whether to extend Palantir's £330 million contract to 2029.
- The Office for Statistics Regulation said it was examining NHS England's claims about the extent of the system's use.
- Labour MP Ben Coleman called the listing and removal troubling and said it threatened public trust.
- NHS England did not respond to requests for comment, the Guardian reported.
NHS England has removed a claim from its website that 137 hospital trusts were benefiting from Palantir's AI-powered federated data platform, the Guardian reported on November 12, 2026. The list had described NHS bodies as live with and realising benefits from the system, which was set up to improve patient outcomes, boost operating theatre efficiency and speed up bed discharges.
The removal followed the Guardian's report that 29 of the trusts said the system was either not live or they were not using any of its applications. A less detailed page now says early users were already seeing real results, citing reduced admin, faster patient pathways and more time for care.
The move comes as ministers weigh whether to extend Palantir's £330 million contract to 2029. The Office for Statistics Regulation said it was examining NHS England's claims about the extent of the system's use. NHS England was previously warned by the OSR that it had no evidence to support a claim the technology helped deliver more than 100,000 extra operations.
Ben Coleman, a Labour MP on the Commons health and social care select committee, said it was troubling that NHS England listed the 137 trusts and then apparently pulled the list when 29 said they were not using all or most of it. He said the statistics watchdog had warned there was no evidence for the claim of 117,000 extra operations due to the platform.
Medact researched use of Palantir's technology by sending freedom of information requests to every hospital and integrated care board in England. Rhiannon Mihranian Osborne, an NHS doctor and Medact spokesperson, said the webpages were taken down only after multiple investigations exposed the misleading nature of NHS England's claims.
Unison general secretary Andrea Egan told the Guardian any decision to extend the deal would be completely unacceptable and a betrayal of staff and patients. Palantir has said ending its contract would be putting politics above patients. The Guardian reported that Palantir has hired the Labour peer Tom Watson as a full-time lobbyist and that he recently wrote to health secretary Yvette Cooper saying Palantir wanted to help build Britain's sovereign technological capability.
Groups including the Doctors Association UK, Medact, Amnesty UK and Just Treatment wrote to prime minister Andy Burnham and Cooper opposing the reported plan to give Palantir a further two years, saying the deal could be safely ended in 2027 using the contract's termination assistance period. NHS England did not respond to requests for comment.