BREAKING: Palantir software is 10 times slower than NHS tools

Leaked internal NHS documents have revealed that Palantir software is 10 times slower than alternative tools.

The revelation strips away NHS managers’ final defense for imposing Palantir on the health service – that the firm’s controversial reputation is a necessary trade-off for superior technology. It is now clear that the NHS hasn’t just compromised its ethics by partnering with a military contractor, but has actually spent £330m to downgrade vital data systems.

An internal briefing prepared for NHS leaders in February 2026, seen by Democracy for Sale, says that even after “optimisation”, “processing time is reported as taking 4-5 minutes”, while similar processes take only “30 seconds” with current systems. Democracy for Sale also quote a senior NHS worker saying that they would “be happy with four or five minutes, but usually I’m waiting closer to ten”.

This report comes just one week after the Homes for Ukraine scheme decided to dump their expensive partnership with Palantir in favour of an in-house platform that performed better and saved millions.

The inefficiency of Palantir’s software comes as no surprise. NHS workers who first piloted the software back in 2025 said right from the outset that it was clunky, demoralising, and a waste of public money compared to existing tools already used across the health service.

For Duncan McCann, data and tech lead at Good Law Project, the briefing reinforces those concerns.

“Palantir’s software can’t deliver what existing solutions already offer,” McCann said, “despite costing the taxpayer millions and tying the UK public sector to what has been called the scariest company in the world.”

The NHS deserves technology that strengthens public healthcare, not costly systems that undermine trust, drain resources, and hand ever greater power to private surveillance firms. It’s time to get Palantir out of the NHS.