NHSE chief: Federated data platform will ‘not be spectacular’

An NHS England chief has admitted the controversial ‘federated data platform’ will ‘not be that spectacular’ despite national leaders previously talking it up as ‘critical for the future of the NHS.’

NHSE chief data and analytics officer Ming Tang said the new data platform, which is being rolled out to trusts across the country, will help staff manage logistical tasks but said the system is “not pretty”.

NHSE wants trusts to adopt the FDP to bring together operational data currently stored in separate systems into “one safe and secure environment.” However, politicians and campaigners have raised concerns about privacy and data protection, particularly over the involvement of US firm Palantir, which is leading the consortium to deliver the FDP.

Speaking at the Health Excellence Through Technology conference on Tuesday (24 September), Ms Tang said “the most important thing… is that we deliver products that work for people, not the products that we want to push.

“I’ve always said [FDP is] not pretty, it’s not that spectacular. But what we’re really doing is helping people do their workflow, helping nurses on the ward so they don’t have to have bits of paper in their pockets, [helping] multidisciplinary teams so they’re not running around chasing emails.

“So, [it’s] taking away some of those logistical activities so they can focus on the frontline and on the patients.”

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Source: HSJ, 26 September 2024