By Professor John Robertson OBA
In the Guardian today:
There are “serious safety risks” for patients in the rollout of electronic health records in hospitals across England, a charity has warned. Patient Safety Learning said incidents involving new systems were likely to be under-reported and must be flagged. It has urged the government to ensure adverse-incident reports are monitored more effectively. One trust reported more than 900 incidents, including potential patient harms after it rolled out new software.
Might this be the reason for the above and the lack of a similar crisis in NHS Scotland?
From the Guardian in November 2023:
The NHS is to hand a key role in handling patient data and share of a £480m contract to the US spy technology firm Palantir this week, the Guardian can reveal.
NHS England is set to confirm that Palantir’s joint bid with professional services company Accenture to operate the NHS’s new “federated data platform” (FDP) has been successful.
It is preparing to make an announcement on Tuesday that is likely to spark fierce debate about the safety of patient data, public trust in the NHS and Palantir’s suitability to be involved in the FDP. The construction of the platform is the biggest IT contract the NHS has ever awarded.
Peter Thiel, the billionaire chair and founder of Palantir, was criticised in January after he told an Oxford Union debate that British people’s deep affection for the NHS amounted to “Stockholm syndrome”.
At the debate Thiel, who backed Donald Trump’s successful bid for the White House in 2016 and became part of his post-election transition team, also said of the NHS that “in theory, you just rip the whole thing from the ground and start over”. He also claimed the NHS “makes people sick”.https://www.theguardian.com/society/2023/nov/20/nhs-england-gives-key-role-in-handling-patient-data-to-us-spy-tech-firm-palantir
Reading the last two paragraphs you san see the appeal of this company for the current and next UK Government.
In Scotland, as reported here just over two weeks earlier:
As far as I can see, there are no suggestions that Palantir is being considered for any role in NHS Scotland.
There’s some detail about Scotland’s National Digital Platform at: https://www.digitalhealth.net/2022/12/scotland-gets-national-digital-platform-to-improve-data-access/
Talking-up Scotland 'Albatraz' 
Things…can only get ‘worse’. This article is vaguely related to your article, further similar articles if you scroll down.
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2023-12-private-equity-acquisition-hospitals-adverse.html
O/T
I follow and usually watch Richard Murphy on economics and politics. He posted a video a couple of days ago about his view of a UK one party state, where he claims that the SNP are a ‘neoliberal party’ and that Nicola Sturgeon is ‘right wing’, and exactly like the UK Tories and Labour in doing nothing good whatsoever for the actual good of the people. I don’t know what his motive is, but it puts his integrity on a shoogly peg in my book.
I’ll post the link if that’s ok.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I tend to be less critical of Richard’s views on the SNP as I’m very well aware when he refers to neo-liberal it is very much from an economics perspective.
In the case of SG they are locked into the economics of London by default anyway so it does no harm in a day-to-day sense, but if they are unable or unwilling to engage in a future Scotland with a different economic philosophy to that of 1970s Thatcherism, we are doomed to repeat the same mistakes of the ‘Grantham housewife’ as Labour are doing today…
LikeLike
I hear that Starmer is going into talks about a trade agreement with Israel, so it all ties in really. 😬
LikeLiked by 1 person
Like you A.H I follow Richard Murphy, and I believe he has a column in the National. In the past I have had several disagreements with him on Scottish subjects, but nothing major. Compared to most English commentators, I believe on the whole he has a fairly balanced view on Scottish matters, but I know he has had reservations on the S.N.Ps fiscal policy, especially the adoption of our own currency, and the creation of a Central Bank.
LikeLiked by 1 person