Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to help support families with someone suffering from Motor Neurone Disease.

NHS England commissions the specialised elements of motor neurone disease (MND) care that patients may receive from 27 specialised neurology centres across England. Within these specialised centres, neurological multidisciplinary teams ensure patients can access a range of health professionals and specialised treatment and support, according to their needs.

At the national level, there are a number of initiatives supporting service improvement and better care for patients with MND, including the Getting It Right First Time Programme for Neurology and the RightCare Progressive Neurological Conditions Toolkit.

Baroness Casey has set out that the Government must take immediate action on MND. Where someone has a severe, reasonably predictable, and life-limiting condition, it is essential that we provide rapid access to the support they need, and we will take forward immediate work to develop a fast-track process, or “passport”, that speeds up assessments and access to care for people diagnosed with MND. We will consider how best to safely implement a process that expedites assessments and gets people with MND the care and support they need more quickly.

The Government has provided £6 million in funding for the MND Translational Accelerator, which aims to speed up the development of treatments for MND, and £2 million in funding for the MND Data Catalyst, to accelerate the discovery of new diagnostics, treatments, and support better care for MND patients. Twelve projects have been funded through the accelerator, and all aimed at speeding up the development of treatments for MND.

The Government has also invested £8 million through the National Institute for Health and Care Research for the EXPERTS-ALS study, a pre-clinical study which is designed to accelerate the identification and testing of the most promising treatment candidates for treating amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, the most common form of MND.

Local authorities have duties to support people caring for their family and friends. The Care Act 2014 requires local authorities to deliver a wide range of high-quality care and support services, including support for unpaid carers.

The Government recognises the vital role of unpaid carers and is committed to ensuring they have the support they need. Through measures in the 10-Year Health Plan, we are equipping and supporting carers by making them more visible, empowering their voices in care planning, joining up services, and streamlining their caring tasks by introducing a new ‘MyCarer’ section to the NHS App.