NHS England says trusts must start using FDP within two years

NHS England has written to trusts informing them that they must begin using the national Federated Data Platform (FDP) and its analytic products within two years.

Dame Emily Lawson, NHS England’s chief operating officer (COO), and national transformation director Vin Diwaker, wrote to all trust executives and COOs asking them to confirm “that [they] plan to adopt the NHS FDP in the next two years”, HSJ reports.

US data analytics giant Palantir was awarded the £330 million contract to provide the FDP in November 2023. NHS England’s orders to effectively make its use mandatory is a significant U-turn from what trusts were initially told at the platform’s launch.

At the time, NHSE said the FDP’s rollout would take place in phases over three years to trusts which found it useful, and that trusts and integrated care systems would not be obliged to adopt it.

In an email bulletin this week dated 29 July 2024, NHS England said the adoption of the FDP was “progressing at pace”, with the “transition stage” of the programme expected to be completed in September 2024 before a move to a “delivery phase”.

Rebecca Llewellyn, FDP programme director at NHSE, said: “It has been a busy couple of months for the programme; transition of trusts to the NHS FDP is progressing at pace with more trusts coming on board every day throughout summer”.

“Our focus will shift to product enhancements and optimisation, wider product adoption and a continued focus on supporting new trusts and ICBs to onboard the NHS FDP,” Llewellyn added.

The letter from Dame Emily and Dr Diwakar, which has been seen by HSJ, calls on each trust to set out when they “envisage adopting already available nationally commissioned local products” accessible through the FDP.

Trusts are asked which “quarter of 2024/25 or 2025/26” this adoption will take place. HSJ reports that the letter includes details of the four “products” available on the FDP. These include:

• Referral to treatment validation — [which] facilitates RTT pathway accuracy and progression
• Inpatients care co-ordination solution — [which] streamlines elective care with data insights to improve theatre use and support planning, improves data quality oversight and waiting list validation
• Outpatients care co-ordination solution — [which] enhances clinic operations with waiting list validation
• Discharge planning (OPTICA) — [which provides] real-time tracking and task management for patient discharge processes

The letter also requires trusts to appoint a “named lead” for the adoption of the FDP, according to HSJ. It encourages trusts to give “your chief operating officer, or director with responsibility for transformation and improvement” this role, as the “FDP is a transformation offer for the whole of the NHS”.

According to HSJ, trusts have been given until Monday 5 August to confirm their plans to adopt the FDP.

In response, an NHSE spokesperson told Digital Health: “While implementation is still not being mandated, all trusts and ICBs are being asked to provide plans for how they will maximise the benefits of the Federated Data Platform to deliver better joined-up care for their patients within the next two years.

“Detail of these plans will also ensure trusts can be scheduled into the overall delivery time of the programme and be fully supported to realise the benefits of the platform as quickly as possible.

“Where the FDP can provide additional capabilities currently provided by other systems, it is right that we’d expect organisations to fully consider using the platform going forward, as part of their planning, to ensure the best possible patient care while delivering the best value for taxpayers.”

NHS England awarded an £8.5 million contract to consultancy firm KPMG in April this year to “promote the adoption” of the FDP by trusts and ICBs.

The programme received criticism from health secretary Wes Streeting in June 2024, who lamented the “glacial” pace of adoption of the platform, which is planned to enable hospitals to bring together information from different clinical and HR systems in one place.