The Health Secretary, Yvette Cooper, has announced a new fast-track support pathway for people with motor neurone disease (MND), as part of a broader plan to overhaul England's social care system. She unveiled the measure during a visit to a Leeds care centre named after the late rugby league star Rob Burrow, paying tribute to his work raising awareness of the disease before his death from MND-related complications in 2024, alongside efforts by his family and former teammate Sir Kevin Sinfield. Cooper said the aim was to extend the principles of support seen at the centre across the NHS and social care system more widely.

The new pathway is designed to address "delays and fragmentation" in support for MND patients and forms the "first phase" of wider social care reforms, according to the Department for Health and Social Care, with the plan to be developed alongside the Motor Neurone Disease Association, patients, carers and other professionals. MND Association chief executive Tanya Curry welcomed the announcement but called for it to be turned into concrete action. The move follows Prime Minister Keir Starmer's pledge last week to reform social care on a cross-party basis, and Health Secretary Wes Streeting's counterpart Andy Burnham bringing forward Baroness Louise Casey's social care commission deadline from 2028 to next year.