Premier and Treasurer Lara Giddings is expected to announce details of her mid-year financial report on Thursday, including wide-ranging health budget cuts.

Front-line services will not be spared, with other key sectors like education also facing cuts.

Economist Saul Eslake warned yesterday that the government would have to make tough decisions and argued front-line services in education, health and police should not be ``quarantined''.

Health and Community Sector Union assistant state secretary Tim Jacobson said he was bracing for significant job cuts across the sector, including hundreds of forced redundancies.

``It looks like the previous commitment the government has made to the protection of front-line service delivery will go,'' he said.

Mr Jacobson said the capital works at the Launceston General Hospital would prove pointless if the new facilities could not be appropriately staffed.

``We will end up with a huge monument at the LGH that will serve no other purpose than as a holding bay for patients,'' he said.

``I can't believe the government would be looking at cutting front-line staff in the Department of Health and Human Services when we're not in a position to manage the increases in demand in areas like Accident

and Emergency.

``The effect will be worse health outcomes.''

Australian Nursing Federation state secretary Neroli Ellis said nursing staff at public hospitals were already down to the ``bare bones''.

Ms Ellis said that although Tasmania was already at the bottom of the pile in terms of elective surgery, it was the only service where patient numbers could be controlled and reduced due to cuts.

Opposition treasury spokesman Peter Gutwein said the government had not ruled out cutting the $56 million extra promised for staffing at the Launceston General Hospital.

``While it may be convenient for the government to cut funding for staff it hasn't even employed yet, the impact on the LGH and health services in the North of Tasmania will be dramatic and devastating,'' he said.

A spokesman for Ms Giddings said the release date for the mid-year financial report had not been finalised.

Ms Giddings has refused to comment on cuts to any particular departments or services before the release of the report.

Tasmanian moves to find savings come as the new Victorian government looks to make spending cuts of $1.6 billion over the next four years, including $350 million in the education sector.