NHS England must cancel its contract with company involved in Gaza assault
Picketers from Health Workers for a Free Palestine demonstrate against software company Palantir
Rhiannon Mihranian Osborne writes in the BMJ on 1 August 2024 (numbers at the end of sentences refer to the references):
In November 2023, NHS England awarded Palantir a £330m contract to create a new data management system called the Federated Data Platform (FDP) that aims to provide “joined up” NHS services.1 Palantir is an American technology company that specialises in artificial intelligence powered military and surveillance technology and data analytics.2 Concerns have been raised about the cost of NHS England’s contract with Palantir and whether it offers value for money, as well as questions about public trust in Palantir and the procurement process.3
This contract has become increasingly controversial as Palantir has vocally announced it is supporting the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) with their assault in Gaza. Since October 2023, Palantir has been outspoken in its support for the Israeli military.45 In January 2024, Palantir signed a deal with the IOF to increase its “advanced technology provision” to Israel in support of war related missions.2 Palantir’s CEO Alex Karp says he is “exceedingly proud” of Palantir’s involvement in what he calls “operationally crucial operations in Israel.”6
IOF operations have been described as a “war on hospitals” because of the systematic destruction of Gaza’s entire health system and 943 IOF attacks on healthcare.7, 8 Hundreds of health workers have been detained, tortured, and killed.9, 10, 11
In addition to directly attacking healthcare, ongoing bombardment, forced displacement of Palestinians, and near complete siege of Gaza, the IOF has created a severe health and humanitarian crisis with high rates of malnutrition, infectious disease, famine, and dehydration. In January 2024 the International Court of Justice issued an interim judgment which stated that Israel’s actions constitute plausible genocide.
The fact that NHS England still considers Palantir an appropriate partner raises serious questions about NHS England’s integrity. The multiple contracts awarded to Palantir over recent years have brought with them allegations of favouritism by NHS executives, backdoor meetings, donations to the Conservative party, ministerial directives being used to override patient confidentiality rules, and Palantir’s Peter Thiel’s own confession that the company is “buying its way in”’ to the NHS. 12, 13, 14
Patients and campaigners have been raising concerns about Palantir’s creeping involvement with the NHS for years based on concerns about ethics, outsourcing, and privacy. The tech company has a long and controversial history of supporting predictive policing, deportations, state surveillance, and drone strikes in Iraq and Afghanistan. 15
NHS England risks further losing the trust of health workers, patients, and the public if it continues with this contract with Palantir. On 3 April 2024, more than 100 health workers, patients, and allies picketed the offices of NHS England to demand that the contract is cancelled.16
Outrage from health workers, patients, and the public will only grow as further atrocities are committed by the IOF. If NHS England is to recover its own reputation and maintain public trust in health data systems, it must cancel the contract with Palantir.