Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will introduce a national strategy for motor neurone disease. [1015]

Mr Burstow MP, Minister of State (Care Services): There are no current plans to publish a national strategy on motor neurone disease (MND). Work on MND is being taken forward in the National Service Framework for Long-Term Conditions (NSF). The NSF was developed to address long-standing issues in neurological care, e.g. inequity in access to services; work force shortages and variable quality of care across the country.

The NSF does not look at individual neurological conditions but at elements of service provision that are common to different conditions. It focuses on the neurological care pathway setting out 11 quality requirements from diagnosis to the end of life, and makes recommendations to transform the way health and social care services work together to deliver appropriate care, planned and delivered around people's individual needs.

The NSF's quality requirements include a separate section on addressing the needs of people with rapidly progressing conditions, such as motor neurone disease, where services need to respond quickly.

We are committed to supporting implementation of the NSF over 10 years (from 2005).