Workers Party Representative Tony Dorrian has expressed his concern that the Westminster Government has just handed a central NHS data contract to Palantir a US tech company NHS workers want them Out.
Mr Dorrian is concerned that this contract could have implications for our data systems in Northern Ireland. Palantir is an American technology company that supplies AI and data systems to the Israeli military and to American defence and immigration enforcement agencies. Now it has been imbedded into the heart of our health service and workers want it removed. Staff had no real say, and have serious fears about patients data, surveillance at work, and continued privatisation. The Workers Party is supporting the call by health service staff to terminate the Palantir contract immediately.
Mr Dorrian is calling on the government to commit to only using NHS data systems that are publicly owned, transparent and accountable to staff and patients. NHS staff have launched a public petition saying we work in the health service to care for patients, not to hand their data over to a private US technology company.
Mr Dorrian says staff are flagging up their concerns about the privacy of patients data and how it could be used and point out that trust is the very foundation of the health service, between workers and patients, and with the public. They believe this contract puts that trust at risk” and the workers Party fully supports their views. There can be no justification for giving a company such as this a contract that deals with millions of citizens data and private information.