Palantir awarded £25m NHSE deal to ‘transition’ to federated data platform

The new 12-month deal, details of which were published today, was awarded without an open tender process. NHSE said while it was not an open process the contract had been awarded via an official government framework. 

An official notice – titled “Palantir Foundry Transition & Exit Contract” – was published on the government contract notice website at noon. It said that while details were being published today, the contract begun on 12 June and is worth £24,925,000.

The contract says the new deal is “to provide the smooth transition and exit service of critical products that were developed to respond to the Covid-19 pandemic (for Covid-19 and elective recovery purposes), to alternative provisions including the transition of products to the new [FDP] supplier following completion of the procurement process and award to the [FDP] supplier”.

It added: “This 12 month transition contract with Palantir will support the safe transition and exit from the incumbent supplier to the new [FDP] supplier when it is awarded and established.

“This contract notice references the future Federated Data Platform & Associated Services (FDP-AS) contract for context, however it should be noted it is a separate contract and procurement process.”

The agreement comes amid growing concerns about the probity of the NHS’s relationship with the firm, which is frontrunner to win the contract to run the high-profile FDP.

Several senior health service managers have raised fundamental questions to HSJ about the relationship between the company and NHSE, while the Doctors Association and a group of campaigning lawyers also set out their concerns on the matter in a report published on Monday.

Transitioning from Palantir’s ‘care coordination solution’ contract to the FDP

Palantir’s initial contract with NHSE, which began in 2020, has been the subject of various extensions. The latest contract expired on the 11 June – but this arrangement had the option for a further extension until 11 September.

The company’s Foundry platform was initially used to support the NHS’s covid-19 response but it has morphed significantly since then.

One of its major applications is now as the platform which underpins a critical data integration programme to NHSE’s Improving Elective Care Coordination for Patients, or IECCP programme.

A paper by senior NHSE figures, discussed at a meeting last month and seen by HSJ, set out recommendations and incentives for trusts to take on the system, which NHSE has branded the Care Coordination Solution.

NHSE has led a sustained promotional campaign to ensure the CCS, which cannot currently be provided without Palantir’s platform, becomes what senior NHSE figures called trusts’ “primary mechanism” for care co-ordination, instead of the numerous rival products available.

The paper says this is to ensure the NHS can get value for money from its Palantir contract. The paper also included a list of the systems different trusts were using along with the reasons cited by the trusts which have not signed up to the CCS.

NHSE ‘has given Palantir a timely leg-up over any rivals’

HSJ has learned that trusts are being offered fully funded licences for the CCS for up to seven years and NHSE says it will cover their start-up costs. It is not known how the procurement for these multiyear licences was conducted.

NHSE has also been heavily promoting the product to the service. An NHSE webinar for NHS leaders about how to manage the elective backlog – a recording of which has been seen by HSJ – also featured a prolonged section by NHSE figures on why trusts would benefit from the CCS, which, they say, provides trusts with “a single version of the truth” for data across their health system.

The webinar said that around 30 trusts had already signed up for the product. However, the branding around the CCS is NHS branding and does not mention the company.

NHSE’s approach has prompted concern from some NHS leaders, and anger from rivals, who say the arrangement is giving Palantir an unfair competitive advantage, not only in the integration space, but also in the race for the FDP.

One senior NHS trust executive told HSJ: “NHSE seems to have given Palantir a timely leg-up over any rivals and is acting almost as a channel partner in helping the company scale up its product across the NHS through the backdoor of its current contract. I can see why rivals might be annoyed.

“It is enabling Palantir to develop deep insights into use cases and establish credibility among NHS Trusts. The way NHSE has been acting is very unusual in terms of how it interacts with this particular supplier.”

NHSE said: “The new interim contract will ensure there is no gap in service provision and support the smooth transition from one platform to another.

“The [FDP] procurement process is separate to this and is taking place in accordance with strict procurement rules.

“The successful supplier of the [FDP] will be required to go through due diligence before the contract is awarded, and through various stages throughout its lifetime.”