"NHS England has granted external staff from companies including Palantir “unlimited access” to identifiable patient data while working on a part of its flagship data platform.

The change, first outlined in an internal briefing note seen by the FT, relates to the National Data Integration Tenant, described as a “safe haven for data” before it is “pseudonymised” and transferred to other systems.

The NDIT is an area within the Federated Data Platform, a tool that connects disparate NHS data into a single system, which Palantir won a £330mn contract in 2023 to build.

Under the plan, NHS England has agreed to create an “admin” role, which the briefing acknowledges “permits unlimited access to non-NHSE staff” to the NDIT and the identifiable patient information held within it.

As well as Palantir employees, this could include staff from consultancy firms who have been drafted in to work on the FDP.

The change marks a significant departure from the current practice, which requires any individual working with the NDIT to apply for clear data access for specific data sets."

ft.com/content/8ce1b9be-1d51-4…

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