HEALTH Secretary John Reid made a big promise yesterday: by 2008 no-one will have to wait more than 18 weeks for a GP referral to hospital, compared with the current nine-month maximum.

Shadow Health Secretary Andrew Lansley responded with an even bigger promise - that the Tories will aim to cut waiting lists altogether.

It is fair to say that campaigning for the next General Election is moving up a gear. Before we know it, they'll be telling us that people will be treated before they even know they're ill.

Promises from political parties are, of course, to be taken with a very large dose of salt - the last Labour Party manifesto on tuition fees being a case in point.

Nevertheless, it is encouraging in itself to see that - after decades of neglect by successive governments before the Blair administration - the NHS is the subject of such feverish competition for votes.

And we give the present Government due credit for raising the bar by delivering meaningful investment in the NHS and for forcing the Opposition to keep pace.

Those at the sharp end of the NHS - doctors, nurses and patients - acknowledge that the service is better. It is still nowhere near good enough but the sense of progress is tangible.

We know from our own campaign to cut waiting times for heart bypass surgery that there has been a significant improvement. It is still well short of being satisfactory but it is better.

On health, at least, the Government has some proof of delivery - and that is a problem for the Tories because their commitment to health remains just a promise.