Tony Dorrian Workers Party Representative has welcomed the decision by a cross party committee of MPs at Westminster to officially recommend that the Government trigger the break clause on Palantir’s NHS Contract.

Mr Dorrian said staff within the National Health Service have raised concerns that the government had handed a contract to Palantir a large American technology company. The Workers Party have concerns that this contract may have implications for our data systems in Northern Ireland. Palantir supplies data systems to the Israeli military and the American defence and immigration enforcement agencies.

Mr Dorrian said now it has ben imbedded into the heart of the national health service and workers want it removed. There was no consultation with staff prior to the system being installed and they have expressed serious concerns and fears about access to highly sensitive patients medical information.

Staff have also raised concerns about the possibility of surveillance in the workplace and the continued privatisation of services, the Workers Party supports their call for the contract to be terminated, and is calling on the government to use only NHS data systems that are publicly owned and accountable and transparent. Staff who had launched a petition and campaigned against the contract saying they work in the healthcare system to provide care for patients not to hand data over to a private American technology company.

Mr Dorrian said staff were flagging up concerns about the privacy of patients data and how it could be potentially misused and point out that trust is the very foundation of the health service between patients, staff and the public and believes that this contract places that trust at risk, the Workers Party shares that view. There can be no justification for giving such a company a contract that deals with millions of citizens data and confidential information. Hopefully the government will now realise giving the contract to such a company was wrong.