A survey from the Bureau of Health Information canvassed 105 people in February and March of 2015, with all patients rating the care they received from staff ‘good’ or better.

Orange’s Denis Cranfield wholeheartedly agreed after deciding to be treated at the hospital rather than in Sydney.

Mr Cranfield, who recently received news his treatment for throat cancer was successful, couldn’t speak highly enough of staff at Orange Health Service.

“People there are so caring. Any experience we’ve had with the hospital has been first class,” he said.

“They seem to have a little more time, you don’t feel like you’re being rushed. I would rather battle for a car park than for good treatment.”

Mr Cranfield said complications with cancer weren’t unique to Orange, but would happen with treatment anywhere.

A spokesman for WLHD acknowledged the results of the BHI report and said their focus was on improvement.

“WLHD did report appointment waiting times longer than the state average, however we are currently working to address the need for increased medical staffing which will decrease waiting times,” the spokesman said.

“There has recently been a significant investment in a new electronic medical records system for cancer services in WLHD.

“This system ensures nurses assess all patients in medical oncology and haematology to recognise possible complications earlier and record this information which they use to communicate with the medical specialists.

“We hope to see the positive results of this new system in patient-reported complications data moving into the future.

NSW Cancer Council’s community programs co-ordinator Fiona Markwick said it was important every cancer patient received the best care possible, no matter which part of the state they were from.

“We trust that the Western NSW Local Health District is looking at the experience of cancer patients using the outpatients clinic at Orange Hospital and that they will use the results outlined in the report as an opportunity to identify what can be improved.”