NHS England deletes claim 137 hospital trusts benefit from Palantir

The removal of the list comes as NHS England faces scrutiny over its public statements about the Palantir system. The Office for Statistics Regulation had already warned NHS England that it lacked evidence for a claim that the technology helped deliver more than 100,000 extra operations, and the regulator is now examining the extent-of-use claims. The deletion also follows freedom of information requests by the Medact campaign group to every hospital and integrated care board in England, which surfaced the 29 trusts' responses.

Palantir's critics, including MPs, doctors' unions and campaign groups, argue the deal's effectiveness has been overstated. The Labour MP Ben Coleman said the overclaim "could put more hospitals off using the FDP and threaten its viability," and he wants the NHS to develop an open platform instead. Palantir has said ending its contract would be "putting politics above patients."

The timing is sensitive: ministers are reportedly planning to extend Palantir's £330m contract to 2029, and the company has hired the Labour peer Tom Watson as a full-time lobbyist. Opponents, including Unison and a group of health campaigners, have written to the prime minister and the health secretary opposing any extension, arguing the deal could be safely ended in 2027 using the contract's "termination assistance period." NHS England did not respond to requests for comment.