NHS England

england.nhs.uk · healthcare

Medical records run on two clocks, and only one of them is yours: retention law keeps the clinical file for years or decades whatever you ask. Around it, what you looked up can become an advertising interest, and a deletion request usually comes back half done.

Reported incidents

Corrected after its data assessment left out Palantir staff access to patient records

2026-07-28

Affected NHS Federated Data Platform (run on Palantir software)

The National Data Guardian, the statutory adviser on health data in England, said on 28 July 2026 that NHS England's data protection impact assessment for the Federated Data Platform stated that access to identifiable patient information would be limited to NHS staff with a legitimate need. NHS England then confirmed that some external supplier staff supporting the platform can access identifiable patient information for technical purposes under its direction. The platform is supplied by Palantir. The Guardian said it had not been aware of this arrangement and asked NHS England to make its public materials accurate and consistent.

People affected typically ask NHS England to confirm whether their information was included, and which categories.

The verified route

england.dpo@nhs.net
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DÆTRAX is a personal data accountability ledger: a dated record of which companies hold your personal data, what you asked them to do about it, and what they claimed in reply.