Breaking down the data silos of Europe’s largest employer

Consumers have already witnessed several sectors transform digitally in front of their very eyes from retail to hospitality to music and entertainment. As a result, industry landscapes and consumer habits have changed beyond recognition and several incumbent providers have fallen by the wayside.

From the consumer’s perspective, however, there is no denying that today, watching a film that raises someone’s interest, finding and booking accommodation in a city of their choice or hunting down and purchasing an item that one desires is much easier for all, regardless of their social status.

Digital technology is already transforming highly regulated industries too such as banking and finance. Healthcare, and especially its public branch, is proving to be a harder nut to crack – partly because it’s literally a matter of life and death, and partly thanks to the fact that the data tech companies – big and small – need to deliver products that don’t sit in their databases but in electronic systems of public health institutions.

As many concerned about the quality of NHS services and the protection of patient data are well aware, we are in the middle of a vast transitional project, where National Data Platforms of the NHS are being transitioned to four national instances of a Federated Data Platform.

The company responsible for the delivery of the project is Palantir, a US business with a track record of working with intelligence, immigration and military organisations. Although their selection for the job is rather contentious, their background, paradoxically, can make a case both for and against the UK government’s choice.

For them, capturing and aggregating data is a core business rather than a tool to generate revenues in other sectors. They were also one of the companies which provided the UK government’s Covid-19 response with data tracking capabilities, which seemed to be a commission that was more in line with their company profile, though.

Although we can’t rule out any hidden agendas, Palantir currently shows no intention of entering the healthtech market itself or renting out data and analytics through partnerships.

As its CEO, Alex Karp claimed in a BBC interview, it’s the “only company of this size and scale that doesn’t buy, sell or transfer data to any other company. Contractually, data that will sit on the Federated Data Platform of the NHS will be owned by the UK government.”

What is the objective of the NHS project starting in July 2024?

The seven-year project starting in July following a successful five-month long transition phase is to provide the data infrastructure that the digital transformation of the NHS can run on.

 Although, according to Pinar Ozcan, Professor of Entrepreneurship and Innovation at University of Oxford & Director at Oxford Fintech Initiative, providing infrastructure services are typically the first stage of big tech’s move into healthcare,  given the enormous volume of available NHS data, it is a gargantuan task that, if delivered successfully, can bring a major step change in the operation of the NHS.

However, it will only lay the foundations for further digital projects. There is no talk about personalised healthcare treatments or medtech solutions that can revolutionise the patient experience as yet.

What the platform is designed to achieve is the consolidation of data currently sitting in the sub-silos of the forty-two NHS trusts in order to reach full visibility of all the hospital beds, elective waiting lists, staff rosters and medical supplies.

This is all about streamlining NHS operations and leveraging vacant capacities to satisfy previously unmet needs.

How can UK tech companies join the party?

There is one aspect, however, that could open up the gate for UK healthtechs – and tech companies in general – to become part of this revolutionary change.

The NHS FDP will provide trusts and integrated care groups with a set of core capabilities and nationally developed products that improve the five key services ranging from elective recovery to population health and supply chain management.

A product in this context is “a software solution to address a particular NHS need.” An example given on the NHS site is a patient discharge product which brings together data to support discharge teams in finding patients the optimum care at the right place.

As well as access to nationally commissioned products, the NHS FDP also enables local innovation, allowing organisations  to develop their own digital tools that address their most pressing operational challenges.

Both national and local solutions will be available on the FDP platform for all NHS trusts for sharing.

Although the creation of the FDP marks a rather early phase of the digital transformation of the NHS, no stakeholder on the healthcare scene can afford to sit back and wait for seven years until the data infrastructure is fully up and running.

In order to build patient trust which is seminal to the success of the project,  the government and regulators must do whatever is in their power to temper any bigtech tendencies to move fast and break things, while the UK tech sector should do its best to meet all emerging digital needs of NHS trusts before they are up for grabs on the global market.