US spy data company Palantir has snout in NHS diagnostics hubs trough

Thanks to Global Counsel – a consultancy company set up and chaired by former New Labour Minister Peter Mandelson, US spy data tech company Palantir seems to have its snout in the public/private NHS diagnostics hubs trough – a subject which NHS Matters recently investigated.

Palantir is a client of Global Counsel, whose “Senior Adviser” Matthew Swindells only recently quit his job as deputy CEO of NHS England.

Swindells was on hand at a November 2021 Global Counsel panel discussion of “the role of diagnostics in the NHS recovery and how reform could revolutionise the patient experience compared to the pre-pandemic era.”

One strand of the discussion was ‘How data and technology can enhance the diagnostics supply chain to better meet demand.’

In its efforts to influence and win the controversial procurement of a new £360 million ($421 million) NHS federated data platform contract, the US spy tech data firm Palantir appears to have hired Swindells by proxy, via his position at Global Counsel.

According to a report in The Register,

“The [Global Counsel] association with Palantir was such that Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, the flagship Palantir user where Swindells is a chairman, said he would be excluded from ‘any decision making in relation to Palantir.’ “

NHS Confederation is in bed with Palantir

Palantir also has other ways of getting its feet well under the NHS table, thanks at least in part to the NHS Confederation and Professor Chris Ham, a long-time promoter of “the import of US market-focussed solutions” into the NHS.

Chris Ham’s recent report for the NHS Confederation on ‘Governing the health and care system in England’ (a report which was “supported by Palantir”) looked at creating the conditions for success for Integrated Care Systems. A key point in the report referred to Palantir’s Foundry tool, and attributed the success of the Covid-19 vaccination programme to it:

“The power of data has been demonstrated in the delivery of the COVID-19 vaccination programme, where expertise from the public and private sectors was used to ensure effective delivery at scale and pace. Data from many sources were integrated into a tool known as Foundry to create a single view of what was happening available at every level . The programme offers a model for population health management that can be adapted in the prevention of cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes and other conditions. Integrated data enables understanding of differences in the populations served, identification of groups at risk, and targeted support at those most in need. This requires close working between public health teams and clinicians as well as the involvement of community organisations.”

Palantir aims to first shape, then win the £360m NHS federated data platform contract

In July 2022 the NHS Confederation presented a follow-up webinar, funded by Palantir. The webinar

“examined data and information governance strategies ICSs can adopt to deliver joined-up care, tackle issues of equality and access, and improve planning and performance.” 

Palantir’s interest in supporting the report and follow-up webinar was to push the requirement for

“an integrated data foundation that enables insight into differences within populations served, identification of groups at risk and targeted support for those most in need.”

NHS England is procuring a £360m NHS federated data platform contract that Palantir is desperate to both shape and win. The proposed federated data platform, or FDP, is a new data tool to connect and integrate patient and other data sources from across health systems.

However, Phil Booth of Medconfidential advocates that the NHS should get rid of Palantir and build its own open-source software, as recommended by the April 2022 Goldacre Review for the Department of Health and Social Care. On 1 October 2022 Phil Booth tweeted,

“For avoidance of doubt on “#OpenSource”, I’m not simply ‘hand-waving’. It’s a key recommendation of the #GoldacreReview, i.e. that the NHS should be investing in #people and #teams, creating #code and #platforms based on modern, #open working practices…”

“…and before anyone scoffs “It can’t be done”, IT HAS ALREADY BEEN DONE – by Ben and the team at @OpenSAFELY, who built a platform used for vital, large-scale research on #COVID: https://opensafely.org/approved-projects/… OS could be used for other things, but @NHSEngland wants @PalantirTech “

The NHS Confederation wasn’t bothered and continues to partner with Palantir. At the July 2022 Palantir and NHS Confederation webinar, speakers included Matthew Swindells (with his Chair of NW London Acute Hospitals hat on), and Tom McArdle, one of Palantir’s two UK Health Leads.

Tom Macardle was also a speaker at the NHS Confederation Expo in June 2022.According to the NHS Confederation Expo blurb,

“At the NHS, Tom has overseen the deployment of the Foundry platform for supply chain optimisation from ventilators and PPE to the vaccination programme. He now focuses on national programmes and local channel partner engagements.”

Lib Dem peer questions “serious ethical issues” as revolving door between NHS England and Palantir gives company an “unfair commercial advantage”

In a 20th June 2022 House of Lords Grand Committee debate on the National Health Service (Integrated Care Boards: Exceptions to Core Responsibility) Regulations 2022, Lib Dem peer Lord Scriven asked Health Minister Lord Kamall about “serious ethical issues that will give Palantir an unfair commercial advantage” as a result of Palantir’s recent “poaching” of two former senior NHS England officials. He pointed out to Lord Kamall that,

“One of the favoured providers for this contract, Palantir Technologies, is trying to give itself greater chances of getting the contract by hiring two former senior NHS officials in recent months: Indra Joshi, the NHS’s former head of artificial intelligence, and Harjeet Dhaliwal, a former deputy to Ming Tang, NHS England’s data chief, who is responsible for the FDP contract and for Palantir Technology’s previous contracts with the NHS. Indra Joshi was present at a number of meetings on NHS data, as the health Bill was going through, with the Minister and other noble Lords such as my noble friend Lord Clement-Jones, the noble Lord, Lord Hunt, and the noble Baroness, Lady Brinton.

“Does the Minister agree that, for the individuals in these two senior NHS roles, who were directly associated with the FDP contract and NHS data use, to be poached and then immediately work for Palantir Technologies raises serious ethical issues that will give Palantir an unfair commercial advantage, and raises issues about senior NHS staff working for commercial companies immediately after leaving the NHS—more or less allowing a revolving door to a career with these companies and creating issues with the letting and award of multi-million-pound contracts?”

Health minister promises to talk to NHS England about applying civil service rules about revolving doors to its employees

After Lord Kamall dismissed his concerns, Lord Scriven asked whether the same rules about revolving doors that apply to the civil service should also apply to NHS England.

“[T]his is an example of senior officials in the department—not for the first time—being involved with a commercial company and there being a revolving door going into that commercial company when specific multi-million-pound contracts are made. Do the Government feel comfortable that that is correct or do they feel that rules such as those for the Civil Service—where there are rules about revolving doors and taking this up—should also apply to NHS England employees? If not, does the Minister think that it should be looked at and that such rules should apply as they do for the Civil Service?”

Lord Kamall then promised to talk to NHS England about this.

Did he?

• More about the insinuation of Foundry/Palantir into the NHS under cover of Covid here.
• There is more information about Swindells, the revolving door between US corporations and the NHS, and Palantir here.

Update 20 April 2024:

FGS, NHS England has paid KPMG £10m for 2 years to “promote the adoption” of Palantir’s “federated data platform” by trusts and integrated care boards

NHS Trusts and ICBs that don’t plan to use Palantir’s Federated Data Platform – and there are many – are going to have KPMG breathing down their necks at great expense to the public. While there’s no money for hospitals to employ enough nurses, or reinstate junior doctors’ pay to something like what it was before its value was eroded, or to maintain hospital buildings in safe condition.

NHS England and its board with growing numbers of bankers really needs to give its head a wobble.

Bankers on NHS England’s Board include:

• NHS England chair Richard Meddings, a former chair of TSB Bank, with no previous experience of the health service.
• One of NHS England’s two deputy chairs, Wol Kolade, is the managing partner and head at private equity firm Livingbridge and previously worked at Barclays.
• NHS England associate non-executive director Suresh Viswanathan is chief operating officer at Nationwide Building Society and has 35 years of experience in the banking sector.
• NHS England associate non-executive director Tanuj Kapilashrami is chief strategy and talent officer at Standard Chartered Bank and previously worked at HSBC for 17 years, as well as holding other non-executive director posts, including for Sainsbury’s.

NHS England associate non-executive directors attend Board meetings but don’t have a vote.