Palantir Lobbied UK Minister to Expand AI Access to NHS GP Records Despite Patient Trust Concerns

Palantir Pressures Minister Through Direct WhatsApp Channel

Palantir lobbied UK minister Zubir Ahmed in February to extend AI into GP records, using a direct WhatsApp channel to argue that integrating primary and secondary care data was "unarguable" and its software "ideal" for the task1

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. The US company, co-founded by Peter Thiel, pushed to expand its reach into the NHS despite GP data being expressly excluded from its existing £330m contract with NHS England to run the federated data platform (FDP)2

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. Messages obtained under the Freedom of Information Act by Foxglove and shared with the Guardian reveal months of correspondence between Palantir's UK boss Louis Mosley and the former health minister spanning July 2025 to March 20261

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Strategic Lobbying to Overcome Political Opposition

In the messages and a briefing document, Palantir urged Ahmed to "get out ahead of" likely political opposition from doctors and vocal critics including Green party leader Zack Polanski and Your Party leaders Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana1

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. The firm told Ahmed that "the FDP is already delivering very strong results - but will deliver even more benefits faster with the right ministerial sponsorship"1

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. The Palantir executive acknowledged that "the politics is not straightforward" since the previous government ruled GP data out of scope when announcing the FDP, advising the minister to explain the change proactively or opponents would "make hay with it"1

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. The correspondence shows Ahmed praising Mosley's BBC1 Sunday politics appearance, saying "Great work [on] Kuenssberg btw"1

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Promised Benefits of Applying Foundry to GP Data

Palantir claimed that applying its Foundry software to NHS GP records could deliver benefits including "faster access to GPs, more effective and targeted management of frail patients, and more effective preventative care" while maintaining local control of data1

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. The company says its platform has already helped cut surgery waiting times and discharge delays under the current contract1

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. When Rishi Sunak's Conservative government announced the deal with Palantir three years ago, it explicitly stated that "GP data will not be part of the national platform"1

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Medical Community Raises Patient Trust Concerns

Groups representing doctors and patients, including the British Medical Association, have opposed the integration of GP data into Palantir's FDP, citing lack of trust in the company which also works for the Israeli military and US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)1

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. Tom Dolphin, chair of the BMA council, raised concerns about scope creep with Palantir potentially accessing identifiable personal data in the GP record that could "undermine patient trust and threaten the doctor-patient relationship"1

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. Doctors fear that expanding Palantir's access to NHS GP records could undermine patients' trust in how their sensitive health data is handled2

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. Dolphin emphasized that "patients must be able to seek care without worrying which operators might have access to duplicates of their personal information"1

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Contract Extension Likely Despite Campaign Pressure

The lobbying emerges after reports last week that ministers were unlikely to end Palantir's NHS data management contract imminently, defying campaigners and two House of Commons committees that wanted the company forced out as soon as spring1

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. Financial Times reporting suggested the Palantir contract will be extended amid concerns that removing the firm's AI technology would be disruptive without an alternative lined up1

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. Health secretary Yvette Cooper told parliament the review was ongoing but noted "a huge long-term benefit to using the NHS to develop UK sovereign AI" - signaling the government may seek a UK replacement for Palantir when the contract reaches its next end point in 20291

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. Bloomberg reported that Tom Watson, a Labour peer hired as a full-time lobbyist by Palantir in September, recently wrote to Cooper urging her to keep the contract going, saying he wanted to ensure "Palantir UK rises to meet the government's new social-value tests and helps build Britain's sovereign technological capability"1

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Transparency Concerns Over Privileged Access

Donald Campbell, director of advocacy at Foxglove, said the WhatsApp messages showed Palantir "lobbying to hoover up yet more of the British public's sensitive personal data"1

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. Campbell called it "appalling to see Palantir pressuring the minister to bring GP records into its platform, despite pledges from the government in 2023 that this would not happen"1

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. The correspondence "shows they knew just how sensitive this was" and it was "telling [that] they made this argument privately, via privileged access to the government"1

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. The question now is whether AI in healthcare will advance through transparent health data governance or through behind-the-scenes lobbying that bypasses public scrutiny of how primary and secondary care data gets integrated into commercial platforms.