Hundreds of Adelaide nurses and other hospital workers will lose their jobs by the end of next year, the state government says.
Health Minister Jack Snelling has confirmed 240 jobs will be cut and more than 100 beds will close in Adelaide's south by September 2017 as part of Transforming Health reforms.
Mr Snelling says the government has been speaking with affected staff and unions since July about the cuts linked with plans to repurpose Daw Park's Repatriation General Hospital.
But he says is confident most affected staff will be able to find other work in the area, as there is a turnover of around 200 nurses in Adelaide's south each year.
"We're not just going to close beds in one fell swoop, we're going to do it in a sustainable and a sensible way," the minister told ABC radio on Tuesday.
But opposition health spokesman Stephen Wade said waiting times at Adelaide's southern hospitals made a mockery of the government's claims of improvements under Transforming Health.
"Rather than confront bureaucracy and waste, the Weatherill government has decided to find its budget cuts in clinical services," Mr Wade said.
Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation SA's Rob Bonner said the government was yet to outline its planned efficiency improvements in the area.
"We do have very real concerns about the time frame and the capacity for reduction of beds within the specified period, given the reforms are yet to be made clear," he said.
