The New Dark Age

Monday, 16 June 2026 — Foxglove

For months, Palantir has justified its £330m contract with NHS England for the new Federated Data Platform by relying on one central claim – that Palantir software is helping hospitals get more done for patients.

Foxglove has just shown that these claims don’t hold up. And this morning, the Financial Times broke the story.

We never trusted the spin about Palantir’s tools, and neither Palantir nor NHS bosses would share the numbers behind it. So we asked for them ourselves, through a Freedom of Information request. What came back tells a very different story to the one NHS England wants to tell about Palantir’s FDP.

First: of the 41 NHS trusts using Palantir’s flagship module for scheduling operations, 13 – almost a third – are now carrying out fewer operations than before they brought Palantir in. Between them, those 13 trusts did 9,073 fewer operations after taking on Palantir’s kit than in the same period before. That’s a much less positive reality than you’d hear from NHS England and Palantir’s spokespeople.

Second: the improvements NHS England claims have been delivered by Palantir’s FDP turn out to rest on a tiny handful of hospitals. One trust alone – Chelsea and Westminster – accounts for 84% of the single biggest “improvement” they point to. Strip out a few outliers and the headline numbers largely melt away.

Up until now, NHS England has only provided big, un-evidenced numbers that it claims show how Palantir’s tools are driving improvements across the whole NHS. The trust-by-trust picture – which we’ve revealed for the first time this week – proves those big numbers simply can’t be trusted. NHS England has been forced to admit to the FT that it can’t show the platform caused any of these changes.

You’ve already signed our open letter calling on the Health Secretary, James Murray, to trigger the break clause and get Palantir out. Thank you. But you’re one of our most committed supporters – so
today I’m asking you to please go one step further, and email the Health Secretary directly 

We’ve written a short template message you can adapt and send straight to James Murray. It questions NHS England’s claims about Palantir’s tools, points to the data, and demands he use the break clause in February 2027. Just add your name, make any quick changes you want, and hit send.

The timing couldn’t be better. Today the House of Commons Health Committee held a special evidence session on Palantir’s contract. MPs from across the parties questioned a health minister and senior NHS officials on the rollout, the risks to patient data, our growing dependence on a foreign company, and – crucially – whether the government should trigger the break clause and walk away.

The tide is turning. The BMA has told doctors to limit their use of the platform. MPs across the parties are raising the alarm. The country’s leading financial newspaper is now picking apart Palantir’s numbers. And the NHS’s own data is quietly undermining the case for keeping Palantir on.

James Murray is new in post. The decisions he makes now will shape whether this contract runs on or ends in February 2027. Let’s make sure he hears from us.

Thank you – more to come.

Donald

Donald Campbell

Advocacy Director, Foxglove

MORE INFORMATION:

Our open letter and the campaign: https://www.foxglove.org.uk/campaigns/james-murray-trigger-the-break-clause-and-get-palantir-out-of-the-nhs/

Health and Social Care Committee session, Tues 16 June: https://committees.parliament.uk/event/27486/formal-meeting-oral-evidence-session/

Financial Times: Palantir NHS claims rely on just a few hospitals (£): https://www.ft.com/content/a3e94197-87a8-4ba5-8a6d-4b7193993af9

Foxglove’s analysis of the NHS trust figures (as covered in the Financial Times): https://www.foxglove.org.uk/2026/06/16/nhs-trusts-palantir-fdp-tools-fewer-operations/