Wes Streeting slams ‘glacial’ pace of FDP adoption

Labour’s shadow health secretary, Wes Streeting, has criticized the slow uptake of the NHS Federated Data Platform (FDP), labeling it as “glacial”. Streeting emphasized the need for a more efficient culture of innovation within the NHS to accelerate progress. He pointed out that despite significant investment, the adoption of the FDP has been sluggish, urging NHS trusts to move faster in integrating operational data for better patient care. Streeting also highlighted the importance of data security and ethical usage to build patient trust. The controversial awarding of the FDP contract to Palantir raised concerns about the procurement process and ethics, leading to legal action. Streeting stressed the importance of integrated healthcare systems to provide personalized care and referenced Labour’s plans to enhance the NHS App. By transforming the app to alert patients with type O blood during shortages caused by cyber attacks, Streeting believes in empowering patients with relevant information for better healthcare outcomes. The digital choices facing Streeting have been elaborated upon by Jon Hoeksma, chief executive of Digital Health.