The Annual Stephen Hawking MND Lectures were launched 2017 – and are now and established and important part of the Association’s calendar.

The aim of the Annual Stephen Hawking MND Lecture is to bring current research in motor neurone disease to members of the multidisciplinary team and demonstrate how this might feed into their practice. Lectures are led by experts in their field and these engaging and popular events attract hundreds of health and social care professionals. The lectures are held in the evening and online to make attendance as open as possible. And we have had delegates join from across Europe.

Our thanks to the Stephen Hawking Foundation for their funding support.

    2023 Stephen Hawking MND Lecture:
    MND – Planning ahead for effective person-centred care.

    Advance Care Planning what you need to know, and how to put it into practice.

    With thanks to the Hawking Foundation for funding this event.

    Bee Wee CBE

    The ability to support patients with planning ahead is key to all health disciplines. Knowing when and how to best explore aspects of future care, which can often include difficult and very personal decisions, presents a clear challenge for professionals and their practice.

    Effective advance care planning was the important theme of the prestigious Annual Stephen Hawking MND Lecture 2023, organised by the MND Association and the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists (RCSLT).

    The lecture was led by Professor Bee Wee CBE. Bee was National Clinical Director for Palliative and End of Life Care, NHS England from 2013 – 2023. Bee is a Consultant in Palliative Medicine at Sobell House and Katharine House Hospice, Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and Associate Professor at University of Oxford, where she is also a Fellow of Harris Manchester College. She is a Non Executive Director of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence.

    This year’s event explored good advance care planning for people living with MND and its positive impact for the patient and for care. Professor Wee shared practical examples of how professionals can support advance care planning in their own environment to ensure patient centred care and outline emergent practice. 

    Watch recording

    Previous lectures

    You can watch videos of previous lectures below: