NHS: In-house Software Capabilities

Lord Patel Excerpts

Monday 16th March 2026 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Merron (Lab)]

I would first look at delivery: the federated data platform has enabled nearly 100,000 extra operations, removed over 600,000 patients from waiting lists and reduced unnecessary bed days by 15%, as well as driving a 10% improvement in cancer diagnosis—so people are being diagnosed sooner because the system is working more efficiently, and that is important. This is a three-year contract given in 2023. I refer the noble Baroness to the comments I made to the noble Lord, Lord Kamall, about the rigorous contract due diligence for all commercial agreements, including with Palantir.

[Lord Patel (CB)]

My Lords, it is historically true that the NHS wasted a lot of money, but this was partly because the development of digital services was in-house. Currently, things are looking much better, and the classic example is the development of the NHS app. However, I will ask the Minister about the health research data service that will be established. Patients should have confidence in data that is used and collected for research, partly because of the recent report on UK Biobank, where the researchers published the codes they were using to access data for research. It has to be made absolutely certain that the public have the confidence in the data that is used.

[Baroness Merron (Lab)]

Absolutely—public confidence is really important, and the debate around this today perhaps emphasises the need to communicate the realities of what is going on. But giving the NHS greater control and long-term value for money, as well as protecting privacy and improving public trust while improving outcomes, is the way forward. But the noble Lord is quite right, and we will ensure that we seek to build that confidence still further.