29 NHS Trusts Say Palantir AI Is Not Live Despite Benefit Claims

Twenty-nine hospital trusts listed by NHS England as benefiting from the Palantir federated data platform told the health service they are not using the system. The discrepancy emerged from more than 100 freedom of information requests obtained by the medical charity Medact. These documents contradict the official record maintained by NHS England.

NHS England currently lists 137 trusts as live on the platform, which costs £330 million. The organization claims these trusts are realizing benefits from the AI-powered tools designed to connect medical files and speed up discharges. However, the 29 trusts in question responded that they are either not using the system at all or are not using its specific applications.

Several trusts provided specific reasons for their non-use. Epsom and St Helier stated it is not using the platform at the moment. Kent and Medway said it has been focused on other priorities and that the system is not currently live. Mersey Care noted it has not yet gone live. Nottingham University Hospitals said no implementation timeline has been agreed. University Hospitals of North Midlands stated the platform is not live and it does not intend to roll it out in the future.

A senior health official described the gap between the NHS claim and the trusts' understanding as very misleading. Chi Onwurah, chair of the Commons science and technology committee, questioned whether the hype surrounding Palantir's products matches reality. She called on the government to activate the 2027 break clause in the contract. The Commons health select committee is also urging ministers to pull the deal.

NHS England insisted nearly 140 trusts have reported benefits from the tools. The department explained that some trusts use the platform for back-office data analysis and submission rather than for direct patient care. For example, Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust is recorded as live because infrastructure is in place for data submission, even though it is not operationally using the apps.

The contract began in 2024 and has faced scrutiny over how the NHS used data to defend it. NHS England previously claimed 117,539 more operations were carried out by trusts using the platform in a year. The Office for Statistics Regulation is now taking this claim forward under its casework function. The organization conceded this summer that it could not prove cause and effect for those additional operations.

Palantir UK and Europe chief executive Louis Mosley said ending the contract would put politics above patients. He accused critics of Palantir Derangement Syndrome. The company recently hired former Labour deputy leader Tom Watson as a full-time senior lobbyist. Watson has been posting videos on social media to debunk myths about the technology. A Palantir spokesperson cited a 14.3% reduction in discharge delays and a 5.6% improvement in cancer diagnosis speed as evidence of the platform's success.