The voluntary sector will have an increasingly important role to play in providing services to people in need of long term care, Stephen Ladyman has said.

Launching the government's national service framework (NSF) for those suffering from long-term neurological conditions, the health minister urged a range of organisations to work together to "help people manage their own condition and live a full life".

Official figures suggest some 10 million people across the UK have a neurological condition, accounting for 20 per cent of acute hospital admissions.

An estimated 350,000 people across the UK need help with daily living because of a neurological condition and 850,000 people care for someone with a neurological condition.

Under the new plan, the government is promising that every individual will have a single point of access to services via a named contact.

Patients will also be able to refer themselves quickly back to services as their care needs change and will have access to "a broad range of services" including rehabilitation, equipment, accommodation and personal care.

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And ministers pledged closer links between GPs, local hospitals and specialist neuroscience and spinal cord injury centres.

"This NSF is about multi-disciplinary health, social service, housing, voluntary sector and independent sector teams working closely together to help people manage their own condition and live a full life," said Ladyman.

"Investing in rehabilitation services and flexible packages of care and support will help people live more independently and be a more cost effective way of providing services.

"Although the NSF describes services for people with neurological conditions the principles can be applied to other long-term conditions.

"This NSF is another important landmark in our strategy to provide first class services for all people living with long-term conditions."

Health secretary John Reid added that the plan would "make a real difference to the many millions of people living with painful and often debilitating long term neurological conditions".

It would offer more choice in how their care is delivered with services that are planned around their needs, he said.