Cancer diagnostic pathway service to run on FDP

A cancer diagnostic pathway management service is among the new products running on the federated data platform (FDP) to launch in 2025, NHS England has announced.

The FDP brings together data currently held in separate systems, with the aim of making it easier for staff to access information so they can provide quicker and more joined-up care for patients across England.

In the NHS 2025/2026 priorities and operational planning guidance, published on 30 January 2025, it says that all systems should  adhere to an ‘FDP first’ policy, connecting their own digital and data infrastructure to the FDP.

In its monthly FDP bulletin for February 2025, NHSE highlights the launch of the Cancer 360 service, which connects data from disparate systems about patients on a cancer diagnosis pathway.

This “transforms cancer diagnostic pathway management with a single automatically updated patient tracking list (PTL), with active pathway management, escalation mechanisms and data driven performance insights”, the bulletin states.

It also lists three other FDP services coming in 2025, including Patient Led Validation, which will “empower patients by giving them direct control over confirming their waiting list status, increasing transparency and improving their experience”.

The Diagnostics Imaging Scheduler “will streamline diagnostic processes” and optimise scheduling, increasing productivity and reducing wait times for patients.

Lastly, the Timely Care Hub will “provide a centralised, real-time view of ward and site activities”, enabling better informed decisions and smoother care coordination.

NHS England also indicated in the bulletin that 96 trusts are now signed up the FDP, up from 87 in November 2024, and are experiencing “significant improvements”, including an average 11% reduction in waiting lists.

This translates to an average of 119 more patients treated in theatres per month, up from 114 in November 2024, and 70,179 patients safely removed from wait lists.

Ayub Bhayat, director of data services and deputy chief data and analytics officer at NHSE, said that more than a million patients have been treated via the FDP.

He highlighted the “pivotal role” it will play in supporting integrated care boards (ICBs) and providers in delivering their 2025/26 priorities.

“NHS England’s focus on efficiency, digital transformation, and financial sustainability highlights the need for systems to ‘adhere to the ‘NHS FDP First’ policy’.

“Systems are urged to ‘connect their own digital and data infrastructure to the NHS FDP’,” Bhayat said.

NHSE has said it will support adoption of the FDP to 85% of all secondary care trusts by March 2026.

The FDP provoked controversy when US data giant Palantir was awarded a £330 million contract in November 2023 to operate the platform, with concerns raised about the procurement process , the heavily redacted FDP contract and the company’s ethics.

Transparency and legal advocates, including the Good Law Project, openDemocracy and Foxglove have cited Palantir’s controversial reputation, owing to its association with US immigration services, spy agencies and the military.