The government publishes a report on the National Health Service on Thursday which opposition politicians say has been brought forward to clear the way for Prime Minister Gordon Brown to announce a snap election.

Health Minister Lord Darzi will say that the NHS's future will be developed by the public, patients and medical staff, and not be imposed by the government.

"This is not about imposing more change from the centre," he said ahead of the interim report's publication.

"Effective change needs to be led locally, driven by clinicians and others working in partnership across the service."

Darzi will also announce 100 million pounds of funding for the development and deployment of new medical technologies across the NHS.

The Conservatives accused Brown of rushing out the report to allow him the option of calling an election as early as next week.

Media reports say Brown may announce next Tuesday that he is calling an election for Nov. 1, 2-1/2 years before he needs to.

But Darzi said October had always been the deadline for his interim report, ahead of the government's comprehensive spending review.

"October is my deadline. Which day it is in October, you know, officials tell you what is the best day to go around and publish these things," he told BBC radio.

Brown brought leading surgeon Darzi into the government in the summer to conduct a wide-ranging review into the future of the state-funded NHS in England.

The review is part of attempts by Brown to improve the morale of the 1.3 million NHS staff who have been at loggerheads with the government over the pace of health reorganisation introduced under Brown's predecessor Tony Blair.

In a sign of an improving relationship, doctors' leaders and health unions said they welcomed Darzi's pledge to put NHS staff at the heart of his review.

"It will mean a lot to staff in the NHS that Lord Darzi has recognised that they are creative and can be on the cutting edge of innovation given the opportunity," said Karen Jennings of health union Unison.

Darzi said he would give more concrete details about his plans in the spring.

He sparked controversy shortly after his appointment in July when he declared that the days of big district general hospitals were over, saying that many of their health services should be transferred to a network of clinics spread throughout local communities.

He told BBC radio on Thursday that it was not the days of the district general hospital that were over but rather "the one-hospital-fits-all, certainly in a big metropolitan capital city like London".