Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether (a) federated machine learning and (b) transfer learning techniques have been employed in the Federated Data Platform.

Neither federated machine learning nor transfer learning techniques are currently utilised within the NHS Federated Data Platform (FDP).

The FDP is designed to support operational use cases such as elective recovery, care coordination, and discharge planning by enabling secure, real-time access to data across National Health Service organisations. While the platform supports advanced analytics and data integration, it does not currently employ federated or transfer learning methods as part of its architecture or functionality.

NHS England continues to monitor developments in artificial intelligence and machine learning to ensure that any future applications involving NHS data align with core NHS principles, including safety, fairness, and accountability.