The Patients Association

What The Patients Association does

The Patients Association is a UK-based independent patient advocacy charity established in 1963 and headquartered in Harrow, United Kingdom. It serves patients in England who rely on the National Health Service (NHS), with particular focus on those affected by long diagnostic waits (the organization has highlighted a record 1.92 million patients waiting for NHS diagnostic tests) and by outpatient care system inefficiencies (135.4 million NHS outpatient appointments in 2023/24). Its primary deliverables are non-commercial: policy advocacy, public campaigns, and joint reports designed to influence NHS reform, including a 40-recommendation joint report with the Royal College of Physicians declaring NHS outpatient care 'no longer fit for purpose.'

The Association has developed a niche role as a patient-trust intermediary around NHS digital infrastructure, most visibly through a 2025 partnership with Palantir to produce a patient-facing guide explaining how Palantir Foundry operates within the NHS Federated Data Platform. It does not build or own technology products; its outputs are reports, guides, advocacy campaigns, and convening activities.

Operationally, the Association is a registered charity with 11-50 employees, funded through donations, grants, and legacies (a 2024 grant from Bristol-Myers Squibb is the only disclosed funding event in the input). Services to patients are provided at no charge, and there is no commercial pricing model. Its governance and ownership details are not disclosed in the available data.

Name

The Patients Association

Legal name

The Patients Association

Website

https://patients-association.org.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

1963

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The Patients Association is a UK charity founded in 1963 that advocates for NHS patients in England, publishing policy reports on outpatient care reform and guiding patients on NHS data platforms such as the NHS Federated Data Platform.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Patient Advocacy Services

NAICS

Other Individual and Family Services (624190)

SIC

Services-Health Services (8000)

akta.pro primary industry

Patient Advocacy, Navigation & Access to Care (BPAGACAH)

Keywords

• Patient advocacy
• Healthcare policy campaigns
• Patient rights representation
• Patient support services
• Healthcare research reports

Headquarters

HQ city

Harrow

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Core offering

The Patients Association is an independent UK charity founded in 1963 that advocates on behalf of patients, particularly NHS patients in England. It campaigns for healthcare policy reform, conducts and publishes research on patient experience (such as a collaborative outpatient care report with the Royal College of Physicians), and produces patient-facing information resources, including an NHS data guide co-developed with Palantir.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Patient Advocacy and Support Service Independent advocacy, information, and signposting service for NHS patients in England (and their families/carers) who need support understanding their rights, raising concerns, or navigating healthcare experiences.

Quantifiable outcome

• Record 1.92 million patients waiting for NHS diagnostic tests - highlighting the urgent need for patient advocacy
• +2 more outcomes

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• PalantircoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 12 November 2025Palantir partnered with the Patients Association to develop a guide explaining how its Foundry software platform works within the NHS Federated Data Platform. The guide addresses patient concerns about data privacy and control, clarifying that Palantir acts as a data processor with no rights to customer data, while NHS customers retain full control as data controllers. This partnership represents a strategic effort to build patient trust in NHS data technology.
• Royal College of PhysicianscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Royal College of Physicians and the Patients Association published a joint report declaring NHS outpatient care in England 'no longer fit for purpose.' The report highlights 135.4 million outpatient appointments in 2023/24 with issues including long waits, poor communication, and misaligned follow-up appointments. The organizations made 40 recommendations and called on the government to use the upcoming 10-Year Health Plan as an opportunity to reform the system.

Recent moves4 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Direct peers

• Healthwatch England: Statutory independent champion for users of health and social care in England. Directly comparable as the parallel NHS patient advocacy body, sharing the same target population and policy reform mission.
• National Voices: Coalition of health and care charities in England. Functions as a peer patient-advocacy umbrella organization amplifying patient voices into NHS policy — closely aligned with the Patients Association's advocacy model.
• Patient Safety Learning: Independent charity focused on improving patient safety in healthcare. Comparable as a specialist UK patient-advocacy nonprofit with policy and campaigning activities, though narrower in thematic focus.
• Age UK: Major UK charity advocating for older people in health and care systems. Compares on patient advocacy, NHS engagement, and policy campaigning for a defined beneficiary population within the same NHS system.
• Independent Age: UK charity providing advice, advocacy, and campaigning for older people's rights in health and care. Direct peer on patient advocacy model with overlapping NHS engagement and policy focus.

Broad incumbents

• Care Quality Commission: Independent regulator of health and adult social care in England. Operates broadly across the same NHS patient population with overlapping oversight and reporting functions but as a statutory body, not a charity.
• Macmillan Cancer Support: Large UK health charity providing support and campaigning on behalf of cancer patients. Comparable NHS patient-advocacy model with significantly larger scale and broader disease-specific service infrastructure.

Emerging players

• Mind: Leading UK mental health charity advocating for better services and patient rights. Comparable on patient-advocacy charity model and NHS policy engagement, focused on a specific patient population.
• British Heart Foundation: Major UK cardiovascular charity with significant patient advocacy and NHS policy engagement. Comparable patient-advocacy charity model at much larger scale and with disease-specific specialization.

Others

• Health Foundation: Independent health and care research charity working on NHS improvement and policy. Adjacent rather than direct — operates in the same policy ecosystem publishing influential NHS reform analysis.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat2 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/PatientsAssoc
• Facebookfacebook.com/thepatientsassociation
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/the-patients-association

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about The Patients Association