UK’s leading doctors’ union has reiterated concerns around what it has called a ‘deeply worrying’ decision to award a new NHS contract to the US spy tech firm Palantir.
Yesterday it was announced that Palantir won the £330 million contract to run NHS England’s new data platform, amid fears from MPs and privacy groups over the safety of patient data.
People will not have the option to opt out of sharing their health data under the Federated Data Platform, which will be run by Palantir, a US multinational knowingly for working with intelligence and military organisations.
One of the billionaire co-founders of Palantir has been reported expressing criticism towards the NHS, claiming that it ‘makes people sick’. While Isaac Levido, a consultant lobbyist for Palantir, is also Rishi Sunak’s election guru.
Dr David Wrigley, digital lead of the BMA GP Committee, spoke on the BBC Radio 4 Today Show this morning and warned trust in the doctor-patient relationship could be eroded if patient data is put at risk.
He also cited the “astronomical” amounts of money being spent on software and hardware, at a time when the NHS is in “desperate need for cash”, and as trusts are being told there is no funding.
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