Projects and data in NHS England's installation of Palantir Foundry

Waiting for an internal review by NHS England of their handling of this request.

Dear NHS England,

I would like to make a request under the Freedom of Information Act. For the purposes of the Act, please take the date of your receipt of this request as 3 June 2021.

This request relates to the installation of Palantir's Foundry platform which NHS England commissioned as part of its COVID-19 response and the COVID-19 Data Store:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/contact-us/pr...

Foundry contains a number of functions Palantir promotes in relation to the integrity of the data within its platform. If any of the terms below are unclear, Palantir's own documentation should help you understand the screens and functions from which to cut and paste answers.

Palantir has also posted a number of explanations online, including:

https://blog.palantir.com/purpose-based-...

that should make what I am asking for clear. Please provide the following:

1) Foundry has a list of ‘projects’ which have been reviewed for data access. Please provide a copy of that list of projects for the data provided to Palantir, along with any other information shown in the list of projects - fully redacting any personal information such as names, if shown, of course.

2) Foundry contains a 'data catalogue' which lists all datasets within the platform that are available to 'projects'. Please provide a full copy of that list. (Note: this list does not say whether any particular 'user' or 'project' has access to any particular dataset.)

3) Foundry has an option for a 'data use request form' for a project to request data. If NHS England's installation of Foundry uses that form, please provide an empty copy; if NHS England does not use that form, please provide a copy of the guidance as to why it does not - or an empty copy of any other equivalent form(s).

Please do not delay your response on the basis that you cannot provide some or any of the information for any one of the items above; I am happy for you to provide partial information in a timely manner, on the understanding that you will provide more complete information as soon as it is available.

I would be grateful if you would send me the requested information promptly and in any event not later than the twentieth working day following the date of receipt of my request.

If my request is denied in whole or in part, or if specific items within the responses are withheld from disclosure, then you must justify all deletions by reference to specific exemptions of the Act, as per Section 17 of the Act. Where you rely on a qualified exemption to withhold disclosure, you are obliged to consider the public interest in your decision and any refusal notice must explain not only which exemption applies and why, but also the public interest arguments addressed in reaching the decision.

Yours faithfully,

Phil Booth

CONTACTUS, England (NHS ENGLAND & NHS IMPROVEMENT - X24), NHS England

**THIS IS AN AUTOMATED RESPONSE**
 
Dear Customer,
 
Thank you for your email. We are currently receiving a higher than usual
volume of emails so it may take us a little longer to respond directly to
your email. In the meantime, you may find the following information
helpful.
 
Please note: our normal working hours are 08:00 to 18:00 from Monday to
Friday (excluding Bank Holidays). Emails received at the weekend will not
be reviewed until the next working day.
How can the Customer Contact Centre help me?
NHS England commissions or buys primary care services; for example, GPs,
dentists, opticians, and pharmacy services. We are also responsible for
prison healthcare, military health services, and some specialised
services. We can provide advice about accessing, giving feedback or making
a complaint about these services.
You may be able to find the answer you are looking for in our Frequently
Asked Questions<https://www.england.nhs.uk/contact-us/ho...>
and our website explains how to share feedback or make a
complaint.[1]https://www.england.nhs.uk/contact-us/co...
What if I have an enquiry or complaint about hospital care, NHS 111 or
out-of-hours GP services?
If your enquiry or complaint is about secondary care, this includes
hospitals, NHS 111, mental health services, out-of-hours services and
community services such as district nursing, you will need to contact the
organisation that provided the service. All hospitals have a Patient
Advice and Liaison Service (PALS)
[2]https://www.nhs.uk/common-health-questio...
. Alternatively, you can contact your local Clinical Commissioning Group
(CCG). You can find their contact details on the NHS
website[3]https://www.nhs.uk/Service-Search/Clinic...
Does the NHS England Customer Contact Centre provide medical advice?
No. Our advisors are not clinically trained and are unable to provide
medical advice. If you require emergency medical attention, dial 999 or
attend your local Accident and Emergency department if you are able to do
so.
If you require non-urgent medical advice please contact your GP, local
walk-in or urgent healthcare centre, or call NHS 111. Calls are free from
landlines and mobile phones.

How do I report a change of name or address?
You should report a change of name or address to your GP practice so they
can update their records. If your new address is outside the practice’s
catchment area you may be asked to register with a new GP practice.
You should also advise your dentist or optician of a change of name or
address as they keep their own records.

Where can I find further information about NHS England?
You can find information about NHS England and our work on our
website[4]https://www.england.nhs.uk/about/
How do you use my information?
NHS England’s privacy notice explains how we use, share and store your
personal information. You can find this on our
website.[5]https://www.england.nhs.uk/contact-us/pr...
NHS England Customer Contact Centre

show quoted sections

FOITEAMCRMMAILBOX (NHS ENGLAND & NHS IMPROVEMENT - X24), NHS England

Dear Phil Booth,  

Thank you for your Freedom of Information (FOI) request dated 3 June 2021.

Your exact request was: 
 
"I would like to make a request under the Freedom of Information Act. For
the purposes of the Act, please take the date of your receipt of this
request as 3 June 2021. This request relates to the installation of
Palantir's Foundry platform which NHS England commissioned as part of its
COVID-19 response and the COVID-19 Data
Store: [1]https://www.england.nhs.uk/contact-us/pr...
contains a number of functions Palantir promotes in relation to the
integrity of the data within its platform. If any of the terms below are
unclear, Palantir's own documentation should help you understand the
screens and functions from which to cut and paste answers. Palantir has
also posted a number of explanations online,
including: [2]https://blog.palantir.com/purpose-based-...
should make what I am asking for clear.

Please provide the following:
1) Foundry has a list of ‘projects’ which have been reviewed for data
access. Please provide a copy of that list of projects for the data
provided to Palantir, along with any other information shown in the list
of projects - fully redacting any personal information such as names, if
shown, of course.
2) Foundry contains a 'data catalogue' which lists all datasets within the
platform that are available to 'projects'. Please provide a full copy of
that list. (Note: this list does not say whether any particular 'user' or
'project' has access to any particular dataset.)
3) Foundry has an option for a 'data use request form' for a project to
request data. If NHS England's installation of Foundry uses that form,
please provide an empty copy; if NHS England does not use that form,
please provide a copy of the guidance as to why it does not - or an empty
copy of any other equivalent form(s)."

NHS England holds this information.

1) Foundry has a list of ‘projects’ which have been reviewed for data
access. Please provide a copy of that list of projects for the data
provided to Palantir, along with any other information shown in the list
of projects - fully redacting any personal information such as names, if
shown, of course.

A list of projects on Foundry can be found in the GCloud Contract which is
available here:
[3]https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov....

 2) Foundry contains a 'data catalogue' which lists all datasets within
the platform that are available to 'projects'. Please provide a full copy
of that list. (Note: this list does not say whether any particular 'user'
or 'project' has access to any particular dataset.)

The [4]NHS COVID‑19 Reference Library describes the datasets being used in
the NHS COVID‑19 Data Store, and the sources of those datasets.

Please note: the list is not exhaustive, and all planned datasets may not
be included. As more data is added to support the COVID‑19 response the
list will be updated.
In collaboration with representatives from use MY data we are developing a
data dissemination register which will demonstrate how information
relating to COVID-19 is being shared with external organisations.  The
register will include all disseminations of data including those where the
data is anonymised, pseudonymised and/or aggregated and does not identify
individuals and disseminations where data which includes identifiers such
as NHS number, date of birth and post code are shared with other
organisations under specific powers which have been put in place to manage
the national response to COVID via COPI Notices.

The aim of the register is to promote transparency in how information is
used and shared and provide assurance that all disseminations are
considered carefully to ensure that they are lawful.  Work is ongoing to
populate the register which we aim to publish in July 2021.

 3) Foundry has an option for a 'data use request form' for a project to
request data. If NHS England's installation of Foundry uses that form,
please provide an empty copy; if NHS England does not use that form,
please provide a copy of the guidance as to why it does not - or an empty
copy of any other equivalent form(s).

Information about access and links to access forms are available on the
[5]NHS England and NHS Improvement website.
 
Copyright:- NHS England operates under the terms of the open government
licence. Please see the NHS England Terms and conditions on the
following link: 

[6]http://www.england.nhs.uk/terms-and-cond...

We hope this information is helpful. However, if you are dissatisfied, you
have the right to ask for an internal review. This should be requested in
writing within two months of the date of this letter. Your correspondence
should be labelled “Internal Review” and should outline your concerns
and/or the area(s) you would like the review to consider. Internal Review
requests should be sent to:

NHS England
PO Box 16738
REDDITCH
B97 9PT

Email: [7][NHS England request email]

Please quote the reference number FOI - 2106-1472935 in any future
communications.

If you are not content with the outcome of the internal review, you have
the right to apply directly to the Information Commissioner for a
decision. The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) can be contacted at
the following weblink:
 
[8]https://ico.org.uk/global/contact-us/

Please note there is no charge for making an appeal.

Please be aware that in line with the Information Commissioner’s directive
on the disclosure of information under the FOI Act, your request will be
anonymised and published on our website as part of our disclosure log.

Please do not reply to this email. This message has been sent from a
central mailbox. To communicate with NHS England regarding Freedom of
Information (FOI) requests, enquiries or complaints we ask these are sent
directly to NHS England’s customer contact centre. This is to ensure all
communications are progressed correctly. Their postal address, telephone
number and email details are as follows: PO Box 16738, Redditch, B97 9PT;
0300 3 11 22 33, [9][NHS England request email].

Yours sincerely,

Freedom of Information
Communications Team
Office of the Chairs, Chief Executive Officer and Chief Operating Officer

NHS England
PO Box 16738
REDDITCH
B97 9PT

Tel: 0300 311 22 33
Email: [10][NHS England request email]

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Dear NHS England,

Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.

I am writing to request an internal review of NHS England's handling of my FOI request 'Projects and data in NHS England's installation of Palantir Foundry', reference FOI - 2106-1472935.

Your response failed to answer the request(s) I made, instead referring to information already in the public domain, of which I was already aware.

As my request made clear, I was seeking copies of the outputs of specific functionality Palantir promotes in relation to the integrity of the data within its Foundry platform - namely its list of 'projects', its 'data catalogue' and its 'data use request forms' - not the incomplete, far less specific information that NHS England has chosen to make public to date.

Please would you reveiw your response and provide the information I actually asked for - which, for avoidance of doubt, is NOT the information your reply referred to - justifying any or all of the information that you withold, as you are required to do under Section 17 of the Act.

A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/p...

Yours faithfully,

Phil Booth

CONTACTUS, England (NHS ENGLAND & NHS IMPROVEMENT - X24), NHS England

**THIS IS AN AUTOMATED RESPONSE** 

  

Thank you for your email. 

 

Due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, we are receiving an
extremely high volume of enquiries. 

  

For information about coronavirus (COVID-19), including information about
the COVID-19 vaccine, go to the [1]NHS website. You can also find guidance
and support on the [2]GOV.UK website 

 

For routine enquiries, it may take us some time to get back to you. We
thank you for your patience and understanding. 

 

In the meantime, you may find the following information helpful. 

  

How can the Customer Contact Centre help me? 

 

We’re here to support patients and their representatives with enquiries,
concerns or complaints about primary care. Primary care includes local
healthcare services such as GPs, dentists, opticians and pharmacies. 

 

We can also help with enquiries, concerns, or complaints about healthcare
in prison, military healthcare and some specialised services that support
people with a range of rare and complex conditions. 

 

You may be able to find the answer you are looking for in our Frequently
Asked Questions: 

 

[3]https://www.england.nhs.uk/contact-us/ho...

 

You can find out how to feedback or make a complaint about an NHS service
here: 

 

[4]https://www.england.nhs.uk/contact-us/co...

Does the NHS England Customer Contact Centre provide medical advice? 

No. Our advisors are not clinically trained and are unable to provide
medical advice.  

 

For help from a GP, visit your GP surgery’s website, use an [5]online
service to contact your GP, or call the surgery.  

 

For urgent medical help, use the [6]NHS 111 online service, or call 111 if
you are unable to get help online. For life-threatening emergencies, call
999 for an ambulance. 

 

There is more information about getting medical help on the [7]NHS
website. 

 

What if I have an enquiry or complaint about hospital care, NHS 111 or
out-of-hours GP services? 

 

If your enquiry or complaint is about secondary care, this includes
hospitals, NHS 111, mental health services, out-of-hours services and
community services such as district nursing, you will need to contact the
organisation that provided the service. 

 

All hospitals have a Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS): 

 

[8]https://www.nhs.uk/common-health-questio...

 

Alternatively, you can contact your local Clinical Commissioning Group
(CCG). You can find their contact details on the NHS website: 

 

show quoted sections

Dear NHS England,

I requested an internal review of NHS England's handling of my FOI request 'Projects and data in NHS England's installation of Palantir Foundry', reference FOI - 2106-1472935, on 8 July 2021. Since then I have received nothing but an automated acknowledgement of that request.

By law, NHS England should have responded to my request for an internal review by now.

Please would you update me on the progress of the internal review, providing me with the outcome - and ideally the information I initially requested.

A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/p...

Yours faithfully,

Phil Booth

Phil Booth left an annotation ()

Having received a somewhat confused response to my request for comms about this request, I've submitted a request for internal review in that thread:

https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/c...