Hospitals See ‘No Notable Improvement’ After Using Palantir Tool
A report by the Health Foundation found that a patient discharge tool developed by Palantir showed no meaningful improvement in NHS hospital discharge delays. These findings challenge claims made by NHS England regarding the tool's effectiveness.
Why it matters
The controversy highlights concerns over the efficacy of high-cost private sector tech interventions in public healthcare systems.
Hospitals noticed “no notable improvement” after using a patient discharge tool from Palantir, a US tech company with ties to the US and Israeli militaries.
NHS trusts that use the tool found “no meaningful difference” in discharge delays, according to analysis by the Health Foundation, a think-tank.
The findings contrast with claims from NHS England that using the Federated Data Platform causes a 15% fall in long-stay discharge delays. Palantir won a £330m contract to build the platform in 2023.
An NHS England analysis seen by the Financial Times was restricted to long-stay discharges because the tool was “mainly designed to support the management of complex patients”.
Critics told the newspaper that this analysis was flawed.
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