SCOTLAND'S largest health board is preparing to cut spending by around £30 million over the next two years, and axing hospital beds is suggested as one way to save money.

As NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde sets up new partnerships with council social care services to improve elderly care, managers from both sides are already searching for savings worth 10 per cent of the combined budget.

The news came as a report revealed hospital foundation trusts in England are under "unprecedented pressure", posting a deficit of £167m for the first quarter of the financial year.

Details of the search for savings in the Glasgow area are listed in a document leaked to The Herald this week. Closing beds for patients with mental health problems, including the elderly, and filling posts for doctors with cheaper staff, are among the suggestions for spending less.

The document advises managers to "assess the most expensive posts including medical workforce and consider alternatives".

It also suggests some patients who receive treatment or services at the moment could be left out in future, saying: "Consider together relevance of eligibility criteria including scope for self management, and restriction of universality."

Matt McLaughlin, regional organiser for the union Unison, said: "Clearly this is a high-level paper which starts to lay out some of the areas that the board will look to cut or change in the years ahead.

"Whilst issues like investing in agile working [hot desking] and reducing duplication are old favourites we've seen before, Unison members and the general public will be concerned that bed cuts, vacancy management and reducing the number of highly skilled clinical staff suggest NHS bosses are seriously planning significant cuts in beds and staff."

He said phrases such as "restricting universality" and adopting "asset-based approaches" which include the third sector must be explained.

All health boards are creating joint boards with council social care services under the Scottish Government's much-trumpeted idea for improving elderly care known as "integration".

The Herald's NHS: Time for Action campaign is calling for a review of the staff and resources both need to look after the growing elderly population. A report written by health board finance directors and leaked earlier this week shows NHS Scotland will have to save £450m in the next two years to avoid going into the red.

In a statement NHS GGC said: "As we establish our new health and social care partnerships which will bring real benefits to patients in joined-up health and social care, we are planning budgets for the next two financial years.

"This paper refers to 2015/16 and 2016/17 but it is important to be clear that the 10 per cent quoted relates to NHS and social care budgets over these two years. It is a planning target for the new health and social care partnerships based on the information we currently have on local authority and NHS financial positions, not a fixed reduction."

The Scottish Government said NHS GGC's front-line budget is increasing above real terms.