Alarm at NHS patient records being put under control of US private equity firm

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2026/jul/27/nhs-patients-records-us-private-equity-firm-optum-uk-tpg

142 points · 15 comments · view on lemmy.world

15 Comments

EggInDisguise@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 29 pts · 31d

Don't trust ANY us entity with personal information. 10 years ago it was a bad idea, today it's just idiotic.

frustrated_phagocytosis@fedia.io · 15 pts · 31d

Whatever they've promised in terms of data safety should not be trusted, there are no guardrails for these companies and unless you want the whole planet to know about your most embarrassing medical information you should not let them have any of it

ContactClosure@lemmus.org · 12 pts · 31d

American here, y'all are fucked.

Eat_Your_Paisley@lemmy.world · 7 pts · 31d (7 replies)

Why would they do this?

Sturgist@lemmy.ca · 8 pts · 31d (2 replies)

A whole shit load of money

Hossenfeffer@feddit.uk · 3 pts · 31d (1 reply)

A tonne of cash, an amusing clock and a sack of French porn.

Sturgist@lemmy.ca · 2 pts · 31d

The sack'o'porn was the tipping point.

Malyca@lemmy.zip · 6 pts · 30d (3 replies)

Thiel wants that data, he wants data for the whole world

boonhet@sopuli.xyz · 5 pts · 30d (2 replies)

This time it isn't even Thiel, the company was originally the UK subsidiary of the technology arm of UHC (the large US health conglomerate whose insurance arm's CEO got shot by someone who is not Luigi Mangione because I was having a beer with him that night).

It now got bought by some private equity company that does healthtech among other things. It being a private equity company, its goal is to enshittify and IPO or sell on. Meaning the service WILL suffer and there's a nonzero chance they'll sell access to patient data to other companies quietly.

Thiel doesn't have much need for this one because he already has his grubby hands in the UK's health records via the Palantir NHS deal.

Avicenna@programming.dev · 4 pts · 30d

They will most likely also use the data to see how best they can milk the world with health insurances by doing some frequency vs cost analysis and making the insurance for more frequently needed health services more expensive.

Malyca@lemmy.zip · 1 pts · 30d

I forgot about the NHS thing. All of it is just awful, the British people deserve better.

Malyca@lemmy.zip · 6 pts · 30d (2 replies)

It's going to thiel

boonhet@sopuli.xyz · 3 pts · 30d (1 reply)

Thiel's already in via the scheduling thingy NHS is paying Palantir like 300 million quid for.

This is separate software and a separate company, meaning even more people have access to the UK's health records now.

Malyca@lemmy.zip · 2 pts · 30d

Fuck that's awful

maam@feddit.uk · 4 pts · 30d

Labour loves endangering British citizens for their sick love affair with transphobic Washington DC.