The Orange Push for Palliative Committee members want the state government to provide additional funding for a range of services including at home care and dedicated palliative care wards, with a commensurate increase in the number of trained palliative care doctors and nurses.

Committee publicity officer Bernard Fitzsimon said the recent increase of 1.5 nursing staff was not enough to service the region.

“Our local member [Andrew Gee] seems to have had his hands tied on this issue and there has been no demonstrated commitment to the initiative from either the health minister [Jillian Skinner], NSW Health or the state government as a whole’’ he added.

“Response to the petition has been fantastic to date but the only way to ensure this vital community service is secured is for the community to continue to register their collective discontent via the petition process’’

Member for Orange Andrew Gee said in a statement that palliative care is a topic that should be above partisan politics.

“It’s disappointing that Bernard seems to be mixing it in with party political point scoring,” Mr Gee said.

“The state election is over but there is a council election in 12 months so I think everyone should brace themselves for a lot more of this sort of thing.”

Mr Gee said Mr Fitzsimon’s “political bias” has made him forget that palliative care services in Orange had bolstered with the appointment of an extra specialist nurse.

“The palliative care team is also working with the NSW Ambulance Service in Orange and the district so that should a patient not have to be transported to hospital but still require medication, it can be administered by a paramedic under a registered care plan,” he said.

“I’ll be guided on palliative care by what the experts tell me, not a political player.”

The petitions can be signed at TJ’s Newsagency, Greengate Newsagency, Bloom’s Pharmacy, Best Buys Pharmacy, McCarthy’s Pharmacy, Good Eddy Cafe, Cincotta Pharmacy and East Orange Post Office.