THE government's forthcoming big shake-up of the NHS has been so well signalled already -- with the guarantee in the Budget of £20billion extra for health over the next four years and Tony Blair himself taking charge of the plan -- that health is bound to be the priority issue at the next election

But, evidently rattled by the Tories' populism-inspired revival, today it fires off a hasty barrage on this key battleground -- more than a month ahead of the official unveiling of its 10-year plan for the health service -- by promising an end to hospital waiting lists.

No-one, we are told, will have to wait longer than three months for treatment. Family doctors will have to see patients within a day. And round-the-clock health centres will perform minor surgery and routine treatments -- so that hospitals and consultants are more free to cope with urgent and vital cases. But if the government has recognised public concern over the state of the cherished NHS -- a Labour creation that gives it an instant political edge over the opposition -- it is also gambling on the voters' trust that it can deliver and can be seen to.

For none of the promises and reforms trailered today can be realised in time for the next election. Indeed, experts estimate that it could take 10 years for the results to be achieved -- the length of time that the government has itself set for its blueprint to become reality.

Evidently the government is not indulging in gimmickry or making policy of the hoof, since so much groundwork has been done and plenty of it is now revealed.

For on top of the huge cash commitment -- equal to 35 per cent extra by 2003 -- we have seen plans for performance-related pay for health workers, increasing the number of doctors in training, breaking down professional barriers so nurses can do some of the work now done by doctors and even crack teams being sent in to take over under-achieving health trusts.

Much of this mirrors the methods employed by the government to bring improvements in education, its priority at the last election. But just as advances in that sector may only be measured on long timescale, so too may those in health be realised and appreciated by an electorate whose patience with the NHS's ills may not be as prolonged as the cure.