Poll: Public Don’t Trust External Firms to Handle Their NHS Data

Questions have been raised regarding private companies handling patient data in light of Palantir’s multi-million pound deal with the NHS.

An NHS sign is pictured outside St Thomas' Hospital, near the Houses of Parliament, in central London, on March 8, 2017. Ben Stansall/AFP/Getty Images

Public trust in external companies handling NHS health data is low, according to a poll.

On Tuesday, it was announced that a group led by Palantir had secured the £330 million contract to provide an NHS-shared software system, which the government claims will bring down waiting lists, currently at 7.7 million, the highest since records began in 2007.

In light of awarding Palantir, a company with military ties, a huge contract to handle the UK’s health data, data has shown there is generally low trust in data-sharing with external companies.

Co-founded by billionaire Peter Thiel and Alex Karp, the data analytics company initially focused on selling software to U.S. government agencies and allies. It has been a partner to the Ministry of Defense for over a decade.

The NHS said that no company involved in the Federated Data Platform can access health and care data without explicit permission. Mr. Karp has previously said that the company “doesn’t buy your data, doesn’t sell your data, doesn’t transfer it to any other company.”

Low Trust

After polling 7,100 adults, the Health Foundation think tank, found that 54 percent have “low trust” in regard to private companies collecting, storing and using NHS data.

The public overwhelmingly (69 percent) rather trusted NHS organisations such as GP practices and local NHS hospitals and clinics with their health data.

The polling found that although over half (57 percent) of people aged 16—24 years trust NHS organisations with their data, but this proportion is significantly smaller than that for older people (where it rises to 79 percent).

The report added that here is also a much smaller difference between young people’s trust in NHS organisations versus their trust in commercial organisations, such as health technology companies and private health care providers, which are generally trusted with data more by this age group than other age groups.

There, however, is broad public support for a wide range of health technologies.

Over half of the public (51 percent) thinks the NHS should make more use of self-monitoring devices, such as blood pressure or heart rate monitors and nearly half (48 percent) said the NHS should be making more use of electronic health records.

The public is less supportive of the use of health-related chatbots to check symptoms or get health advice and video conferencing to speak to a health professional.

“There is still work to do to grow trust in the use of health data,” wrote The Health Foundation.

“As we enter a period of what is likely to be intense public scrutiny following the award of the £330 million contract to deliver NHS England’s Federated Data Platform, it will be critical to ensure that the collection, storage and use of data are trustworthy, and done in ways the public is supportive of, with any necessary risks properly controlled,” it added.

‘Undermining Foundational Principle of Patient Autonomy’

Reacting to the Palantir contract on Wednesday, Subhajit Basu, professor of law and Technology at the University of Leeds School of Law, whose research focuses on critical policy debates surrounding Big Data and health data, told The Epoch Times that the move could undermine patient autonomy in controlling their health data.

“The decision by NHS England to entrust Palantir and its partners with a critical health data platform raises immediate concerns about patient data security and privacy and feeds into deeper, systemic issues in public-private health data partnerships,” he said.

“This move exacerbates existing power asymmetries between individuals and data controllers, potentially undermining the foundational principle of patient autonomy in controlling their health data,” he added.

He said that given “Palantir’s extensive ties with global intelligence and military organisations and the political leanings of its founder, one must question the appropriateness and implications of such a partnership.”

“This situation highlights a significant challenge in data protection law: how to balance individual rights and societal benefits in an era where data controllers wield immense power. The fundamental question now facing every NHS patient is whether their health information can remain secure and private under such arrangements,” he added.