Almost two-thirds of Canberrans support the ACT Government's purchase of Calvary Hospital, according to a poll commissioned by the Little Company of Mary.
The Auspoll survey of 600 residents found 64 per cent supported the purchase while 20 per cent were opposed.
But Opposition health spokesman Jeremy Hanson has labelled the poll biased.
''I have looked at the questions asked and I'm of the view that they are simplistic and emotive. You can ask questions in a way to generate certain results. This is more an exercise in PR, spin and marketing than it is in finding out the facts,'' Mr Hanson said.
A Calvary spokesman rejected suggestions the survey had asked leading questions.
''It's an independent survey carried out by one of Australia's leading research companies which reflects accurately the views of the people surveyed,'' the spokesman said.
He said the survey was part of the Little Company of Mary's broad engagement with the community on the proposed transfer.
''It demonstrates that there is a strong awareness of the process and that the clear majority of the community support the proposal, including the transfer of Clare Holland House to LCM Health Care.''
The poll found the purchase of Clare Holland House made no difference to 91 per cent of respondents.
Greens health spokeswoman Amanda Bresnan said splitting respondents into two groups Catholic and ''other'' was odd.
''The methodology they used is fairly standard for a survey, having separate Catholic respondents is an unusual approach. The wording of the questions may influence what people said,'' Ms Bresnan said.
The ACT Government needs the Greens' support to push the $77million deal through.
''Ideally we would like to see the exchange of Calvary Hospital go through, but we are concerned about the hospice,'' Ms Bresnan said.
The Greens will move a motion for the ACT Government to reconsider the transfer of Clare Holland House as part of the deal this week.
The Greens would use the poll as part of their final decision making.
But Mr Hanson said the results were skewed with the questions engineered to generate some specific answers. Mr Hanson said Question 11 was a good example of one aimed at eliciting a particular response, in this case, a negative. Question 11 asked respondents, ''If the proposal goes ahead then The Little Company of Mary Health Care would purchase Clare Holland House ... This would mean they would own Clare Holland House but they would still run it for all of the community. Does this issue change whether you support or oppose the proposal for the Government to buy Calvary Hospital?''
The poll generated numerous letters to The Canberra Times.
One reader believed the questioning had been misleading.
She said another question had been, ''Who would you rather own and operate a public hospital, the Government or the Catholic Church?''.
That question, she said, was invalid. ''It should have said, 'Who would you rather own and operate a public hospital, the Government alone or the Government in partnership with the Catholic Church [as is the status quo]'?''
A spokeswoman for Health Minister Katy Gallagher said the Government was happy to feed the survey results into the community consultation process.
Consultation on the ACT Government's proposal to buy Calvary Public Hospital from LCM for $77 million and sell palliative care facility Clare Holland House for $9 million closes tomorrow.
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