US/UK nurses, patients and politicians protest algorithmic staffing, data sharing, and rising costs from over-exposure to one tech firm’s control
A technology firm called Palantir Technologies is confronting intensifying criticism over its growing role in healthcare, as nurses, patients, and politicians in both the United States and the United Kingdom push back against the its ubiquitous AI-driven tools and expanding access to patient data.
In the US, the National Nurses United union has organized demonstrations in eight cities calling on hospitals to sever ties with Palantir, whose software now manages about 20% of American hospital beds, according to company statements. The flashpoint is Timpani, an AI-powered staffing platform that rolled out in 2023 and by 2025 was deployed across 76 HCA facilities. Nurses contend that the system sidelines clinical expertise and exacerbates understaffing. Critics say algorithmic scheduling disregards nurses’ experience and established routines, with one nurse describing how the software replaced her predictable roster with erratic shifts.
Opposition in the UK is mounting on several fronts. More than 1,700 patients and hospital staff have signed a petition urging two of south London’s largest NHS trusts to reject Palantir’s Federated Data Platform (FDP). At the same time, general practices sharing patient data with a population-management tool have requested to withdraw because of its association with Palantir. The FDP, awarded to a Palantir-led consortium in a £330m deal in 2023, has now extended beyond hospitals into primary care. Patient records from five GP surgeries in Cheshire and Merseyside are being ingested into the platform, a development an internal NHS note described as a “significant milestone”, according to the Financial Times. This appears to contradict assurances from the previous Conservative government that “GP data will not be part of the national platform.”
Political pressure is building alongside patient opt-outs in the UK. Health innovation minister James Frith had written to parliament that he was “concerned about mistrust of Palantir” and its impact on willingness to share data with the NHS. Between mid-May and mid-July, roughly 60,000 people had opted out of data sharing. The government has also revised the FDP’s projected whole-life cost upward to £1.1bn while cutting forecast benefits to £808m. “Listen to your nurses, listen to your doctors,” one speaker had urged at a US protest” “They’re the ones that are actually meeting with the patients, and ultimately they are the ones that should be making these decisions, not AI.”
