Introducing a Patients’ Guide to Foundry

Last year, Palantir was privileged to be selected to lead a group of companies in supporting the delivery of the NHS Federated Data Platform (NHS FDP). The NHS FDP is software that enables NHS organisations to bring together different sources of information, helping them to better plan and deliver care and reduce the administrative burden on staff.

Partnering with an institution as important as the NHS, on a challenge as sensitive as data management, requires us to earn the trust of patients. We therefore want to support patients to understand our software and the ways in which it supports better care while protecting patient privacy.

That’s why we have worked with the Patients Association, a charity that advocates on behalf of patients for improvements in health and social care, and for patient involvement in the design and delivery of the services they use. Together, we developed a patient-focussed guide to our platform Foundry, which serves as the primary infrastructure of the NHS FDP.

Our Role in the NHS

Palantir has worked with the NHS since 2020, providing our Foundry platform. Foundry is designed to integrate, understand, and utilise data effectively, promoting informed decision-making. It played a significant role in managing critical resources, such as ventilators, during the COVID-19 pandemic and in the roll-out of the vaccine.

It has also supported the development of pioneering digital tools, such as an application that is supporting cancer specialists to see and treat cancer patients sooner.

In 2023, following a competitive procurement process, the NHS chose Palantir to support the NHS Federated Data Platform, along with a consortium of other companies. The platform is actively helping to improve patient care, such as shortening wait times for elective operations, and reducing delays to patient discharges.

Why Develop the Guide?

While the benefits our software has supported are clear, we understand that the relationship between patients and their data is deeply personal. It is critical that individuals have trust, confidence, and clarity about the way their data is being handled.

That means engaging meaningfully with patients, meeting them within their own experiences, and actively listening — and responding — to their concerns.

For this reason, we commissioned and funded the Patients Association to deliver the guide. Established in 1963, the Patients Association is a charity that directly engages with patients across all health and care issues, voicing their priorities and concerns to the government, the NHS, and other stakeholders. The charity’s role is not just to ensure that the patient voice is heard, but acted upon.

Listening to the Patient Voice

To help ensure a comprehensive understanding of Foundry, the Patients Association recruited a diverse group of patients who had earlier participated in projects related to data usage in health systems.

At the request of the Patients Association, we developed pre-reading materials that covered topics believed to be of interest to patients, including details around our company’s history, Foundry’s technical capabilities, and the ways in which our software supports the NHS.

Over the course of two focus group discussions and one-to-one interviews, patients had the opportunity to provide feedback, ask questions, and describe additional information that they wished to explore further. Informed by this patient feedback, we supplied more detailed information and developed additional resources. The Patients Association then utilised this information to craft the guide.

What Is (and Isn’t) in the Guide?

While including examples of our NHS work, this guide is intended primarily as an overview of how our Foundry software works. It is not intended to be a guide to the NHS Federated Data Platform. Information about the NHS Federated Data Platform can be found on the NHS England website.

Here are a few key aspects covered in the Guide:

Understanding Palantir’s Role as Data Processor

When an organisation uses Palantir’s software, Palantir and that organisation have different responsibilities. These are set out in Palantir’s contracts with customers, and in various legislation (including privacy law). Patients wanted to understand the responsibilities Palantir has for the data in Foundry.

As the “data processor”, Palantir is responsible for processing its customer’s data in its software. Palantir’s customers retain full control of the data, as the “data controllers”.

In other words, Palantir’s NHS customers always have full control over the data they hold in Foundry. Palantir has no rights to the customer data contained within the platform. This includes any information related to the NHS or the patients it treats, and under no circumstances can Palantir use or transfer the data for its own purposes.

Understanding How Foundry Can Help Promote a More Personal Touch to Patient Care

Patients were eager to understand how Foundry could help improve care, including promoting a personal touch, or individualised, care.

Having accurate and up-to-date information about the people they are caring for can add to the personal knowledge a doctor or nurse has about a patient, rather than replacing it. Even the best staff who have a strong personal relationship with a patient might not remember all the tests they have had or what their results show. When exploring this topic, one patient noted:

“A friend of mine is treated at 5 trusts and has to repeat herself every time she sees a consultant. Foundry could make a big difference for people like her.“

The use of Foundry means clinicians have important information at hand when they are treating a patient.

Understanding the Administrative Benefits of Foundry

For NHS professionals, accessing data from many different computer systems, each presenting information in a unique way, complicates the planning process for tasks such as scheduling appointments, conducting operations, and discharging patients from the hospital. One of Foundry’s major advantages for the NHS is its ability to streamline administrative tasks. Patients were curious about these benefits.

Foundry saves staff time by bringing lots of data together and presenting that information in a way that means it can be understood by everyone who needs to use it.

Several NHS trusts and their patients have already reported these benefits. For example, in North Cumbria Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust, Foundry helped its theatre planners save more than three hours of time per week. The Trust was also able to perform up to 10% more surgeries than before. At North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust, Foundry also helped clinical staff save nearly 10 hours per week, meaning they have more time to support patients.

Conclusion

We hope the guide helps patients understand how Foundry works within the NHS. We are deeply grateful to the Patients Association for their commitment to patient engagement and their support throughout this project; this guide serves as a testament to their commitment to ensuring patients’ voices are heard and their concerns addressed.

We’d also like to extend a sincere thank you to the patients who gave the benefit of their time, expertise, and experience throughout the research that led to the production of the guide.

Our company is humbled by the opportunity to support an institution as significant as the NHS. Our long-standing experience in developing software that integrates complex and sensitive data underscores our commitment to instil trust and confidence in our software and our company, and we look forward to continuing striving for transparency and better patient care.

Authors

Tom McArdle and Joanna Peller, Co-Health Leads at Palantir


Introducing a Patients’ Guide to Foundry was originally published in Palantir Blog on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.