Greater Manchester Shuns Palantir's NHS Software
Greater Manchester’s refusal to adopt Palantir’s health data platform has fueled a national debate as the UK government decides whether to cancel its $400 million contract.
The UK government has six months to decide whether to terminate its contract with Palantir, a deal valued at more than $400 million. Commissioned in 2023, Palantir’s Federated Data Platform (FDP) was designed to unify the National Health Service's fragmented health data. While NHS England reports that 139 of approximately 200 hospital trusts are live with the technology, and 35 of the country's 36 integrated care boards (ICBs) use it, Greater Manchester has flatly refused to adopt the system.
Serving a population of around 3 million, the Greater Manchester ICB has chosen to stick with its homegrown Analytics and Data Science Platform (ADSP). Developed over nearly a decade, the ADSP integrates primary care data that is currently unavailable on Palantir's FDP. Local health officials claim their custom system is functionally superior, with some capabilities "two-three years" ahead of what Palantir currently offers. They also argue that the in-house platform is easier to reconfigure and enjoys deeper public trust, which is vital for gathering sensitive patient information.
This localized rebellion has intensified political scrutiny over the national contract, which is scheduled to run until 2031 unless the government triggers an early break clause. Bipartisan parliamentary reports in June and July warned that relying on a single foreign vendor creates an unacceptable vulnerability. For healthcare IT practitioners, the standoff highlights a critical tension between deploying a standardized, national software infrastructure and maintaining flexible, locally trusted systems. While FDP advocates argue the platform allows tools to be easily shared across regions, critics warn that forcing a transition could degrade existing local capabilities.
This is our own summary of reporting by WIRED AI
