Emails between Health Infrastructure staff show they discussed the need to avoid the terminology of ‘‘PPPs’’ (public-private partnerships) because the community ‘‘doesn’t understand’’ such arrangements and thinks of ‘‘private health insurance and privatisation’’.

Communication problems arising from a community forum held in Maitland in March to discuss the hospital project ‘‘supports this misunderstanding’’, one email said.

The emails were among documents the government was ordered to table to State Parliament about the hospital plans, and have led Labor to accuse the government of trying to hide its agenda for the new Hunter hospital, planned for Metford, to be privately run.

Labor health spokesman Walt Secord  said the emails showed a preference for the hospital to be a similar project to the Northern Beaches Hospital, which will be privately built and run  but will cater to both public and private patients.

One of the emails, from a senior director, referred to the need for ‘‘messaging’’ about the Hunter hospital plans to use ‘‘hospital operator’’ rather than ‘‘non-government hospital operator’’, although another staffer noted messages about ‘‘non-government’’ operators was ‘‘consistent with NBH [Northern Beaches Hospital] messaging’’.

The ‘‘messages’’ were used in response to questions posed during the forum, and generally for dealing with media and in public discussion of the project.

‘‘The Liberals know that if the community knew their full plans, they would not agree to them,’’ Mr Secord said.

‘‘This is simply being tricky and trying to hide their true plans from the community.’’

Health Minister Jillian Skinner said the project funding model was still being worked out.

Master planning would be done by the end of the year, but a business case would be submitted to Treasury mid next year.