In a letter responding to Peter Geoghegan's article on Palantir's foothold in the British state, Dr Devan Moodley, CEO of Health Connect Global, argues that the NHS has a viable domestic alternative to the US firm's data platform. Greater Manchester's integrated care board (ICB) has spent nine years without Palantir, not due to caution but bold conviction, building its own sovereign health data infrastructure.
Greater Manchester's Homegrown Solution
Greater Manchester's ICB remains the only one in England to decline the Palantir-built federated data platform, concluding that its own data capability was stronger. It developed this capability in collaboration with British universities, NHS clinicians, and domestic technology firms. According to Dr Moodley, this demonstrates that a homegrown system can outperform imported versions.
Risk of Overseas Tech Reliance
As healthcare becomes increasingly dependent on digital platforms, cloud infrastructure, AI systems, and data management technology, there is a growing risk of excessive reliance on a small number of dominant overseas, particularly American, technology companies. Dr Moodley emphasizes that this is not anti-American sentiment but common sense.
Call for National Action
Dr Moodley urges Downing Street to ask a simple question: if one English region can build sovereign health data infrastructure that outperforms the imported version, why can't the country? He notes that the domestic alternative is not hypothetical—it is already running in Greater Manchester. If NHS staff dislike Palantir's tech, and if Mayor Andy Burnham believes it is turning off voters, that same approach should be carried into Downing Street to empower UK companies.
