Tasmania's health unions are in shock as the State Government prepares to drastically reduce its elective surgery budget to rein in health costs.

Thousands of elective surgeries will be postponed as the Government works to slash the Health Department's spending by $400 million over the next four years.

The Government plans to cut $21.6 million worth of elective surgery over the next nine months.

Nurses were said to be in tears at Burnie's North-West Regional Hospital after the announcement.

The Health and Community Services Union says the head of the Launceston General Hospital confirmed 64 beds will close as a result.

Mr Jacobson says beds will also have to close at the Royal Hobart and North-West Regional Hospitals.

"That is a reduction of somewhere in the order of 20 per cent of the beds at the LGH."

"That is incredible, it is shocking and the Government, in spite of its rhetoric around keeping the patient at the centre of everything they do, really needs to have a hard think about what it is that they're doing here."

Mr Jacobson believes surgeries will be cancelled for at least six months.

"Waiting lists will blow out."

The Australian Nursing Federation's Neroli Ellis says surgical wards and much-needed hospital beds will close across the state.

"It'll be hundreds of positions to go, not just nursing. It'll be medical, it'll be general support staff.

"Right across the board now, we will see the health system decimated."

She says elective surgery will basically stop in the north-west, starting as soon as next week.

"This is a devastating announcement by the Government with a complete lack of foresight and risk management."

"It means the emergency department who is already being backed up on a daily basis now will have less access to beds.

"Every nurse at the moment is in shock and very concerned about health care and how on earth their patients are going to access health care," she said.

The Health Minister Michelle O'Byrne denies it is a dangerous move.

"There is not a clinician or hospital that would do something that was unsafe."

She says emergency surgeries will not be affected.

The Health Department projects the cuts in elective surgeries will increase to at least $58 million over the next three years.

The Opposition's Jeremy Rockliff says 12,000 Tasmanians will now miss out on elective surgeries.

"I'm not sure how you could rip $60 million out of elective surgery and not impact on patient care."

"People, right now in Tasmania, are in severe pain on a waiting list, 7,700 people are waiting, this is going to blow out to 20,000 people," he said.