There are two NHS Trusts in Bristol, University Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation Trust and Avon & Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust. Both are overseen by the Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire Integrated Care Board (BNSSG ICB). We are calling on both trusts to take a principled stand by declining to adopt, or committing to rolling back, the implementation of Palantir products in their service.
Your voice is critical - by writing to BNSSG ICB and objecting to Palantir's encroachment on the NHS, you can demonstrate the strength of public feeling on this matter, and ensure that our NHS remains accountable to the values of the people of Bristol.
Customer Services Team
NHS Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire ICB
360 Bristol – Three Six Zero
Marlborough Street
Bristol
BS1 3NX
TEMPLATE LETTER
To NHS Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire ICB,
I’m writing as a worried patient to tell you that I am against the plan of the BNSSG ICB and its NHS Trusts to adopt the Palantir Federated Data Platform (FDP).
I’m really worried about data security, patient trust, and the risk of giving sensitive health data to a private company driven by profit and with a history of enabling human rights abuses. Any agreement that lets an outside company manage the infrastructure for our sensitive health data must be completely open and accountable. But people don’t trust the current arrangement.
The ICB and its NHS trusts must immediately halt any plans to start using the Palantir FDP system until you have carried out a comprehensive, independent, and public consultation. This pause is essential so that patients and stakeholders can understand the legal, ethical, and commercial implications of this system and to give informed consent about the ways their medical records will be handled in future.
The trust must also think again about relying on just one main supplier. The trust should be encouraging a diverse range of suppliers for our digital systems, creating an environment that uses open standards and multiple, competitive contracts. This approach will reduce the risk of getting locked in to one firm, as well as making sure our systems are robust and preventing business pressures from getting in the way of both patient care and the public interest. Our public health system should not depend on a single foreign, private technology company for its core data operations.
Yours sincerely,