Member for Orange Phil Donato called on the state government to announce the successful tenderer so the facility could get started.

A Western NSW Local Health District-led panel considered tenders for a trial.

“I know it’s not Dudley, that’s what we’ve been told,” Mr Donato said.

“I still don’t know who it is, it’s a matter for the decision makers.”

Mr Donato, who is also the Palliative Care Working Group chair, said he had not been involved in preparing Dudley’s bid.

“I feel for Dudley because they showed interest from the very beginning. They were very proactive in trying to assist and get this over the line,” he said.

Dudley had proposed a four  bedroom unit in a joint public-private arrangement to accommodate public palliative care patients in the private hospital.

It was seen as the front runner to provide the facility.

Mr Donato said the government should get on with making the announcement.

“This is a matter above politics. People’s lives are depending on this. It’s ultimately in the best interests of the community,” he said.

Mr Donato said people were dying in the Orange region without getting palliative care.

“I know of personal stories of young people who have had to die in a nursing home,” he said.

Cancer sufferer Toney Fitzgerald is currently being cared for at the Catholic Healthcare St Francis Aged Care facility because he cannot get palliative care in Orange.

Mr Fitzgerald also called for the immediate announcement of the successful provider.

“Who is stopping the process? I believe it is political. It makes you so angry,” he said.

“It is not palliative care [the aged care facility], it is just as good as palliative care but I am paying for it. Palliative care would be on Medicare.”

Mr Fitzgerald, who has had cancer since 2012, said he experienced proper palliative care at a Gold Coast facility last year when he was taken ill while in Queensland with his family.

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He said the 16-bed facility was “heaven” with constant care, good food and facilities for family members.

“The staff treat you with empathy and compassion. They make you so comfortable. There’s nothing in Orange,” he said.

WNSWLHD executive director Allied Health and Innovation Richard Cheney last week said he expected the palliative care trial would begin operating before the end of March.