Lack of appropriate funding from Melbourne state has forced the Box Hill Hospital to reduce the volume of its elective surgery by 8 percent this year, forcing the closure of an operating theatre and a 32-bed ward.

The downsizing also risks the jobs of hospital staff, particularly nurses, as well as blow out waiting lists, the newspaper The Age reported.

Box Hill Hospital had been performing badly on elective surgery for the past years, with hundreds of patients waiting longer than state government allowed benchmark for treatment. Last year, those on the waiting list increased by about 10 percent.

Surgeons said hospital executives called for the reduction following a shortage of funding from the Melbourne state government.

Eastern Health chief executive Alan Lilly did not deny the plan, but said in a statement that the Eastern Health was reviewing its hospital services and considering a ''re-design'' to deliver more home-based and community care. Consultations will be made with hospital staff to ensure no job losses will occur.

Australian Nursing Federation Victorian said Box Hill Hospital had already closed four beds.

In last year's election campaign, Health Minister David Davis said the government remains committed to its promise of providing 100 new beds, noting an extra $280 million in hospitals had been invested this year.

''So far, we've only heard of bed closures,'' Australian Nursing Federation Victorian secretary Lisa Fitzpatrick told The Age, pointing out that nurses at Maroondah Hospital were fighting an Eastern Health plan to slash six full-time nursing roles at the Ringwood East hospital.