UK consortium set to bid for £480 million NHS data platform • The Register

The contentious procurement of the UK well being service’s £480 million ($580 million) Federated Information Platform (FDP) – which US spy-tech agency Palantir is tipped to win – has seen a brand new competitor enter the fray within the type of a UK consortium of distributors.

In response to the Financial Times, Voror Well being Applied sciences, Eclipse and Black Pear are amongst consortium members promising to undercut the US bidder for the scheme, which goals to enhance effectivity and cut back care backlogs in one of many world’s largest and most advanced healthcare organizations.

The consortium hopes to tackle Palantir, which is claimed to have made the profitable venture a “must-win,” and – critics concern – might have an unfair benefit as its knowledge system supported the NHS through the pandemic beneath a £23 million ($28 million) contract.

Julian Brown, chief govt of Eclipse, informed the FT: “We all know that the NHS is a really advanced system, and totally different from different healthcare techniques world wide, notably when it comes to its meticulous safety of affected person knowledge. We had been very eager that the NHS stays answerable for the information … and to reinvest the income in frontline NHS companies.”

Eclipse says it has constructed an IT platform to assist keep away from hospital admissions by evaluation of affected person knowledge. Voror develops the open supply Well being Info Mannequin, which is designed to mix frequent ontology (medical and illness terminologies), a typical logical knowledge mannequin, a group of code medical units, and a group of queries. Black Pear is a developer of smartphone apps and knowledge companies within the NHS.

Regardless of the consortium’s corporations having deep roots within the NHS, they could have their work reduce out beating Palantir and different US distributors to the FDP prize. In November final 12 months, The Register revealed how companies supplied by Palantir – which started within the COVID-19 emergency – would become part of the new FDP. Later, a Parliamentary reply confirmed Palantir dashboards may have to be transferred to the FDP.

The FT stated that Oracle Cerner and IBM are additionally set to bid for the FDP contract, which has attracted widespread criticism amongst sufferers, privateness campaigners and medical teams.

Since Massive Pink’s $28 billion acquisition of Cerner in June, it has inked an £85 million ($103 million), 10-year cope with Sheffield Instructing Hospitals NHS Basis Belief. ®