A selection of press and online articles, radio and TV items about the privacy of NHS records.
2025
August
Exclusive: Full cost of federated data platform to exceed £1bn – HSJ, 20 August
AI-assisted tool on FDP will help write hospital discharge letters – Digital Health, 18 August
NHS to use AI technology to help free up hospital beds – Sky News, 16 August
No Palantir in the NHS and Corporate Watch reveal the real story behind the Federated Data Platform Rollout – Corporate Watch, 13 August
Shared Blair Record – HSJ, 6th August
The tech company winning big from Trump’s presidency – The Telegraph, 5 August
NHS Fife won’t confirm probe into patient information leak – The Herald 3 August
July
School nurse struck off for accessing patient records out of curiosity – Nursing Standard, 31 July
Our Future Health: consent, clinical risk, and industry issues plague the UK’s biggest ever health research programme – BMJ, 30 July
Keir Starmer’s Government is Sleepwalking Britain Into the Grip of Trump-Supporting Big Tech – Byline Times, 25 July
Write-back to aging UK health systems lessens benefits of Palantir-based platform – The Register, 10 July
Palantir accuses BMA of ‘choosing ideology over patient interest’ amid NHS data row – Pulse, 9 July
Palantir accuses UK doctors of choosing ‘ideology over patient interest’ in NHS data row – The Guardian, 8 July
‘Single patient record’ to become available via NHS App by 2028 – Pulse, 4 July
NHS will be ‘digital by default’ under 10 year health plan – Digital Health, 3 July
NHS App to become ‘a doctor in your pocket’ under 10 Year Health Plan – UK Authority, 3 July
DHSC to launch ‘innovator passport’ to accelerate tech adoption – Digital Health, 2 July
June
59 hospital staff ‘violated privacy’ as one cancer sufferer ‘died without justice’ – Mirror, 30 June
AI system to identify unsafe care ‘before it becomes a tragedy’ – Digital Health, 30 June
‘My sister died without justice’: Nearly 60 Cambs hospital staff members violate patients’ privacy – Cambridgeshire Live, 30 June
NHS App could offer AI-driven mental health support – Digital Health, 27 June
NHSE approves Medicus Health EPR system for primary care – Digital Health, 26 June
Patient death linked to cyber attack on NHS pathology provider – Digital Health, 26 June
NHS warns against non-compliant AI transcription tools in clinical use – Tech Monitor, 25 June
Doctors are using unapproved AI software to record patient meetings, investigation reveals – Sky News, 24 June
DHSC to roll out national maternity dashboard to address failings – Digital Health, 24 June
Patients Know Best single patient record launches England-wide GP record – Health Tech Newspaper, 20 June
Public favours tiered system of access for single patient record – Digital Health, 18 June
NHS staff unsettled by patients filming care and posting videos on social media – The Guardian, 17 June
NHSE creating national population health management tool for FDP – Digital Health, 12 June
NHS England pauses AI project fed health data of 57m patients – The Observer, 10 June
Loss of data relating to inquiry at NHS trust most likely deliberate, say police – The Guardian, 10 June
One of NHS’s biggest AI projects is halted after fears it used health data of 57 MILLION people without proper permissions – Daily Mail, 8 June
Doctors to refer NHS to data watchdog over feeding patient data to AI – Politico, 6 June
Police in UK can now take women’s phones and check their period tracking app – Tyla, 6 June
Win: NHS admits it has to respect patient data rights – GLP, 5 June
AI project to predict health outcomes paused over GP data concern – Digital Health, 4 June
Major AI project paused over patient data concerns – HSJ, 4 June
Abortion laws are Victorian era, says grieving mum – BBC News, 4 June
GPs force NHS England to hit pause on a ‘ground-breaking’ AI project – Computing, 4 June
NHS England pauses ‘ground-breaking’ AI project following GP data concerns – Pulse, 3 June
May
Joe McDonald: ‘The single patient record is too big to succeed’ – Digital Health, 28 May
Guy’s and St Thomas’ launches AI-enabled women’s health service – Digital Health, 28 May
Abortion arrest: Recording reveals police concern – BBC, 27 May
‘Amazon-style’ prescription tracking goes live on NHS App – Digital Health, 23 May
One of Britain’s largest health trusts says ‘no ta’ to Palantir-run data platform – for now – The Register, 23 May
Police could search your home and check your period tracking app after pregnancy loss – The Mirror, 22 May
Patient data could power the NHS. Much of it is still stuck on paper – Financial Times, 20 May
NHSE quizzed on the link between single patient record and FDP – Digital Health, 19 May
Greater Manchester says its NHS analytics stack is years ahead of Palantir wares – The Register, 21 May
Some English hospitals doubt Palantir’s utility: We’d ‘lose functionality rather than gain it’ – The Register, 16 May
Most of public think that NHS ‘single patient record’ already exists – Digital Health, 15 May
Researchers pilot AI model to predict future health outcomes – Digital Health, 8 May
Concerns raised over AI trained on 57 million NHS medical records – New Scientist, 7 May
DHSC announces wider roll out of Cancer 360 dashboard – UKAuthority, 6 May
DHSC announces launch of FDP tool to improve cancer diagnosis – Digital Health, 5 May
NHSE could impose new cancer system on struggling trusts – HSJ, 4 May
Suppliers to help design Streeting’s ‘single patient record’ – HSJ, 2 May
April
Why are concerns being raised about the security of GP records? – BMJ, 28th April
The Download: The FDP is an ‘empty box’ in many areas – HSJ, 28 April
NHS analysts call for urgent ‘reset’ of FDP rollout amid warnings of premature system closures – Computing, 24 April
Why 500,000 Britons including my wife who signed up to this medical research trial MUST leave it now, writes DR MARTIN SCURR – Daily Mail, 22 April
Half a million UK GP records to become accessible to researchers from China – Independent, 16 April
China given access to half a million anonymised NHS GP records – The Times, 15 April
Half a million UK GP records to be accessed by Chinese researchers – LBC, 15 April
Revealed: Chinese researchers can access half a million UK GP records – The Guardian, 15 April
The mythbuster: Government has the wrong idea on data – HSJ, 14 April
Chelsea and Westminster pilots clinical letters tool on FDP – Digital Health, 14 April
DHSC announces creation of £600m Health Data Research Service – DigitalHealth.net, 8 April
PM announces £600m Health Data Research Service – Research Professional News, 7 April
Cash-strapped NHS trusts hand former PM Tony Blair’s tech pal Larry Ellison £1.5bn contract – Daily Mail, 6 April
Modernised NHS app could lead to better and faster care for patients – Streeting – Yahoo News, 5 April
US patient data reportedly stolen following Oracle Health breach – Digital Health 2 April
March
Taylor: Lack of capacity in centre ‘concerning’ for NHS’ digital plans – Digital Health, 27 March
NHSE abolition ‘ensures money improves service for patients’ – Digital Health, 26 March
Palantir suggests ‘common operating system’ for UK govt data – The Register, 25 March
Woman with terminal cancer ‘violated’ as Cambs hospital staff ‘shared photos of her in surgery’ – Cambridgeshire Live, 24 March
NHS ‘missing opportunity to leverage AI’ says Morley – Digital Health, 24 March
Stephen Powis: ‘We must involve patients in digital transformation’ – Digital Health, 20 March
The Palantir problem – New Statesman, 19 March
Streeting’s ‘shock’ at scale of NHS struggles inspires big political gamble – The Guardian, 13 March
Keir Starmer announces plan to abolish NHS England – Digital Health, 13 March
‘We are abolishing biggest quango in the world’: Wes Streeting welcomes end of NHS England – video – The Guardian, 13 March
Keir Starmer scraps NHS England to put health service ‘into democratic control’ – The Guardian, 13 March
Data chiefs raise concerns over Federated Data Platform – Healthcare Leader, 11 March
Data chiefs raise concerns about NHS federated data platform – Digital Health, 10 March
‘Shameful’ – hospital staff may have illegally accessed medical records of Nottingham attack victims – ITV News, 7 March
Nottingham attacks: Investigation into claims NHS staff accessed victims’ medical records – Sky News, 7 March
NHS trust investigates claim staff illegally accessed Nottingham victims’ medical records – The Telegraph, 7 March
NHS wastes money on overpriced foreign tech, says ex-health secretary – Telegraph, 7 March
NHS chief data officers concerned by FDP roll-out – Computer Weekly, 6 March
NHS investigating how API flaw exposed patient data – Computer Weekly, 5 March
GPhC warns pharmacist over ‘unsolicited’ message to patient on social media – Pharmacy Magazine, 5 March
NHS chief data officers concerned by FDP roll-out – Computer Weekly, 6 March
Directors accuse NHSE of ‘imposing solutions’ on systems and trusts – HSJ, 4 March
Klarity and Munich Re enhance life insurance underwriting with third-party data and wearables – Reinsurance news, 3 March
February
The decline and fall of NHS England – HSJ, 28 February
GP appointments to be booked online to end ‘8am scrabble’ – Digital Health, 28 February
Research challenges idea that tech always frees up NHS staff time – Digital Health, 28 February
NHS data breaches hit 35,283 in last three years – Guido Fawkes, 27 Feb
Smartwatches measuring mortality are the new tool for insurers – Bloomberg, 25 February
GP record data will be used for major conditions research in platform expansion – Pulse, 21 February
Researchers could soon access GP patient data—how will it work? – BMJ, 21 Feb
‘Transformative’ investment for health data project – BBC News, 20 Feb
Single patient record data will be available to researchers by default – Digital Health, 18 February
The King’s Fund calls for NHS App to allow two-way communication – Digital Health, 18 February
Cancer diagnostic pathway service to run on FDP – DigitalHealth, 14 Feb
NHS England highlights future Federated Data Platform services – UKAuthority, 13 February
GPs raise patient confidentiality fears amid surge in private weight-loss prescriptions – GP Online, 6th February
NHSE launches ‘common front door’ into secure data environments – Digital Health, 5 February
Palantir designed to ‘power the West to its obvious innate superiority,’ says CEO – The Register, 4 February
January
No set date for the NHS to be paperless, says Amanda Pritchard – Digital Health, 29 January
Goldacre warns Labour against ‘monolithic’ national data library – Times Higher Education Supplement, 27 January
High street opticians could spot dementia risk using AI tool – Digital Health, 22 January
Public backs technology to improve NHS, says Tony Blair Institute – Digital Health, 21 January
The NHS is holding the economy back by failing to share its data – HSJ, 20 January
Government announces AI Action Plan including health data library – Digital Health, 14 January
Two accused of COVID-19 vaccine fraud under Computer Misuse Act – The Register, 10 Jan
US reports first human death from bird flu as Louisiana man dies, health officials say – LBC, 7 January
Nicola Byrne: ‘Digital formats will always have an inherent risk of attack’ – Digital Health, 2 January
Labour’s plans to sell GP data to private sector ‘make no sense’ – Morning Star, 2 January
2024
December
NHS is prioritising earnings over need – Tortoise, 20 December
NHS England’s federated data platform: one year on – NHS Confed, 11 December
AI models to be trained on Federated Data Platform – HSJ, 10 December
Talk to public about data to avoid opt outs, says report – Healthcare Leader News, 9 December
Two more Liverpool hospitals impacted by Alder Hey cyber attack – DigitalHealth, 5 December
NHS England’s federated data platform: One year on – Digital Health, 2 December.
November
NHS claims two-thirds of trusts and ICBs now using Palantir – PublicTechnology, 29 November
UK government to create surveillance system for future pandemics – Digital Health, 6 November
Concerns raised that NHS digital plans could exclude older adults – Digital Health, 5 November
October
Concerns raised over access to UK Biobank data after ‘race scientists’ claims – The Guardian, 25 October
Yet another UK government seeks to reform GDPR – The Register, 24 October
NHS staff use WhatsApp ‘constantly’ to share private patient data – FT, 24 October
Privacy fears over NHS staff using WhatsApp to share patient data – The Telegraph, 24 October
Before moving from “analogue to digital,” the NHS has to fix its privacy flaws – TechRadar, 24 October
Ministers pledge unified patient record in NHS App as part of 10-year journey from ‘analogue to digital’ – Public Technology, 22 October
Patients to get full access to record on NHS App – BBC News, 21 October
Labour’s NHS tech revolution ‘risks isolating elderly and vulnerable’ – Independent, 21 October
Starmer insists NHS must make better use of tech amid data protection concerns – Independent, 21 October
NHS data sharing will streamline services, says health minister – Independent, 21 October
NHS care can be a ‘death sentence’ for some patients – Wes Streeting – Independent, 21 October
UK Biobank refutes claim that ‘race science’ group accessed data – Digital Health 18 October
US startup charging couples to ‘screen embryos for IQ’ – The Guardian, 18 October
‘Race science’ group say they accessed sensitive UK health data – The Guardian, 17 October
Tell us: have you donated your health information to UK Biobank? – The Guardian, 17 October
Revealed: International ‘race science’ network secretly funded by US tech boss – The Guardian, 16 October
NHS England warned about plans to extend Covid-era rules for patient data access – The Register, 16 October
Single patient record bridging GP practices and hospitals to form key part of 10-year NHS plan – GP Online, 4 October
September
NHS Tayside falsely claimed it deleted Dundee HIV patient’s historic medical records – The Courier, 30 September
NHSE chief: Federated data platform will ‘not be spectacular’ – HSJ, 26 September
How OpenSAFELY provides much-needed transparency in big data medical research – Clinical Trials Arena, 24 September
More than half of acute trusts signed up to the NHS FDP – Digital Health, 23 September
NHS drops another billion on tech in the hope of finally going digital – The Register, 23 September
Concerns raised over flagship Pharmacy First scheme – Channel 4, 19 September
NHS cannot embrace AI until its basic IT systems are up to scratch – The Guardian, 15 September
Patients may be able to opt out of sharing their data with the FDP – Digital Health, 10 September
Key aspects of Palantir’s Federated Data Platform lack legal basis, lawyers tell NHS England – The Register, 5 September
Patient confidentiality breach: GP surgery sent private emails to the wrong patient – The Express, 1 September
August
NHS England excludes GPs from cheaper medicines deal due to ‘confidentiality concerns’ – Pulse, 28 August
Prior UK government planned £485M four-year budget for Palantir-based healthcare system – The Register, 21 August
The NHS selling off our data management to Palantir is an attack on us and democracy – The Canary, 20 August
Blair Institute calls for crash programme of digital health records – Digital Health, 20 August
Tony Blair’s NHS dream? Fewer GPs, more chatbots – Politico, 19 August
AI data-sharing deal ‘breaks national guidance’ – HSJ, 16 August
Privacy concerns raised over trust’s AI data-sharing deal – Digital Health, 16 August
Superintendent suspended after builders dump patient data in recycling centre – Pharmacy Magazine, 15 August
Hackers behind cyber attack ordered by judge to return stolen NHS patient data – Evening Standard, 15 August
NHSE U-turn mandates trust use of the FDP – HSJ, 1 August
July
NHS health board hackers unlikely to be convicted – police – BBC News, 31 July
NHS England says Truss must start using FDP within two years – Digital Health, 31 July
Adoption of FDP ‘progressing at pace’, says NHS England – Digital Health, 31 July
Users of NHS Federated Data Platform get support portal – UK Authority, 30 July
NHS Patient Data Privacy Under Scrutiny – MedScape, 29 July
Labour ‘won’t be squeamish about making money from NHS data’ – The Times, 26 July
NHS hack prompts tougher UK cyber security rules for private providers – FT, 21 July
Global IT outage disrupting NHS ’caused by antivirus software’ – Digital Health, 19 July
UK Plans New Cybersecurity Laws After NHS Hospital Hack – Bloomberg, 17 July
Labour government begins to dish out digital responsibilities – Computer Weekly, 16 July
Labour appointments include DWP minister for transformation and leader for NHS data platform – Public Technology, 15 July
NHS data chief was ‘guest of honour’ at Palantir lobbyist’s dinner – FT, 11 July
Row erupts over data sharing function in UK doctor software – The Register, 4 July
June
NHS confirms patient data stolen in cyber attack – BBC News, 24 June
Wes Streeting slams ‘glacial’ pace of FDP adoption – Digital Health, 19 June
NHS worker secretly read ex-colleague’s medical records – Stoke Sentinel, 16 June
Campaigners protest against Palantir at NHS Confed Expo – Digital Health, 13 June
Student’s flimsy bin bags blamed for latest NHS data breach – The Register, 13 June
Ministers urged to release details of cybersecurity audit at hacked NHS health board – FutureScot, 5 June
Were staff who tried to pry on Kate caught in a trap – MSN, 2 June
Were private hospital staff who tried to pry on Kate Middleton’s files caught in a ‘decoy’ trap sting by health chiefs? – Daily Mail, 1st June
May
Northamptonshire hospitals are first to transition to local instance of FDP
– Digital Health, 21 May
The UK public is not confident about NHS cybersecurity at all – techRadar, 14 May
UK public voice fear over security in NHS data systems – The Register, 13 May
April
Persistent sensitive information breaches failing people living with HIV – Charity Today, 30 April
Persistent sensitive information breaches failing people living with HIV – ICO, 30 April
KPMG bags £8.5M NHS gig as cheerleader for Federated Data Platform rollout – The Register, 16 April
NHS patients in Dumfries and Galloway urged to look out for cyber extortion after data breach – Public Technology, 12 April
Health workers blockade NHSE over Palantir contract – Pulse Today, 4 April
March
UK health department republishes £330M Palantir contract with fewer █████ – The Register, 25 March
Nurses cautioned on patient confidentiality amid royal data breach – Nursing Times, 21 March
NHSE misses deadline to upload less redacted version of Palantir contract – Digital Health, 20 March
Three hospital staff under investigation over Kate’s medical records – The Times, 20 March
Wes Streeting: Under Labour, technology could transform the NHS – The Times, 19 March
Health board ‘running as normal’ after cyber attack – BBC News, 19 March
NHS England removes web page hinting at plans for ‘central database’ of GP patient records – Pulse Today, 14 March
Digitise the dark age computers to digitise the NHS – The Independent, 10 March
February
Good Law Project sues NHSE over heavily redacted Palantir FDP contract – Digital Health, 20 February
NHS websites are handing out YOUR health secrets to the likes of Google and Facebook without your consent – Daily Mail, 20 February
NHS England challenged over redacted Palantir contract – Computing, 20 February
Legal campaigners challenge UK.gov decision to redact NHS-Palantir contract – The Register, 20 February
What’s so secret about data giant’s NHS deal with Palantir? – Tortoise, 19 February
Campaign group takes legal step against NHS Federated Data Platform contract – UK Authority, 16 February
Health Secretary: Federated Data Platform could include GP records – Digital Health, 14 February
What are medical passports and why are they so controversial? – Evening Standard, 8 February
GP data could be included on controversial new federated platform, says health secretary – Pulse, 6 February
Drug checking services must be confidential to succeed, say academics – The National, 1 February
January 2024
No ‘lawful basis’ for FDP, lawyer warns NHSE – HSJ, 31 January
Turn of the century UK pols say it’s time to turn NHS health data into a ‘competitive asset’ – The Stack, 29 January
NHS data platform: Questions raised over Palantir ‘influencer’ campaign – Public Technology, 9 January
NHSE to investigate Palantir for possible breach of FDP contract – Digital Health, 8 January
NHSE publishes heavily redacted Palantir FDP contract – Digital Health, 8 January
Expert sounds alarm bells over upcoming NHS data platform – The Register, 5th Jan
NHS Probes Whether Palantir Influencer Campaign Breached Contract Terms – Bloomberg, 5th January
NHS England under fire for Palantir contract transparency – Computing, 3 January
Older items are published elsewhere on our page covering 2013-2023