Dr Marc Farr, chair of the Chief Information and Analytics Community and nationwide chair of the Affiliation of Skilled Healthcare Analysts (AphA) (Credit score: Marc Farr)
NHS England’s mandate that each one suppliers undertake the federated knowledge platform (FDP) has been criticised for being “at odds” with current coverage and pushing a product which medical doctors don’t imagine is “as much as the job” for sufferers.
The NHSE medium time period planning framework, revealed on 24 October 2025, said that each one trusts and built-in care boards (ICBs) have to be onboarded to the NHS FDP and use its core merchandise to assist elective restoration, most cancers, and pressing and emergency care.
Nonetheless, Marc Farr, chair of the Chief Information and Analytical Officer’s Community, advised Digital Well being Information that the steering is “at odds with the present coverage that claims you need to contemplate the FDP but when you have already got knowledge and instruments in place then you’ll be able to proceed and never use it”.
He beforehand wrote an open letter to Ming Tang, chief knowledge and analytics officer at NHSE, elevating considerations about whether or not the FDP is able to supporting native programs.
NHS trusts with their very own merchandise have constantly pushed again on adopting the FDP and regardless of 150 trusts having onboarded, solely 77 have been stay and actively reporting advantages in September 2025, in keeping with NHSE figures.
One belief that has expressed choice for its personal merchandise is Leeds Instructing Hospitals NHS Belief, which reportedly advised NHSE earlier this yr that adopting a number of the FDP instruments would lead it to “lose performance moderately than achieve it”.
A spokesperson for Leeds Instructing Hospitals advised Digital Well being Information that it has carried out the FDP Referral to remedy validation device, however will “proceed to utilise” its personal merchandise for the availability of outpatient care co-ordination and discharge planning.
In the meantime, Better Manchester ICB — which has its personal mature interconnected knowledge programs together with the GM Care File, Analytics and Information Science Platform and Safe Information Surroundings for Analysis — stays the one ICB to haven’t signed as much as the NHS FDP.
A spokesperson for Better Manchester advised Digital Well being Information: “Whereas the Board has not but dedicated to adoption, we stay concerned in discussions to form steering and discover how the FDP might complement our native knowledge platforms.”
Talking in October 2025, Tang appeared to take a dig at suppliers which proceed to make use of their very own merchandise, calling leaders’ egos “the largest problem to the adoption of NHS expertise”.
In response, Rosa Curling, co-executive director of Foxglove, an non-profit which beforehand launched a marketing campaign in opposition to FDP provider Palantir, mentioned: “NHS bosses have chosen in charge sluggish uptake of FDP on ‘ego’ and ‘ideology’ however the reality appears extra mundane: medical doctors simply don’t appear satisfied that Palantir’s equipment is as much as the job for his or her sufferers.
“We’ve seen main NHS trusts in Manchester and Leeds say FDP both wouldn’t enhance the programs they have already got, or in some instances would truly cut back high quality.
“Except NHSE can handle these considerations in a public and clear option to each medical doctors and sufferers, it’s arduous to see why they need to settle for Palantir’s failing product – irrespective of what number of arbitrary deadlines NHSE decides to announce.”
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