The Southern Cross University student was placed on a waiting list and told the the lack of a palliative care volunteer coordinator meant new volunteers could not be trained.

That was more than a month ago and Mr Brennan has yet to hear back from the area health service.

Existing volunteers fear the service will fold if the palliative care volunteer coordinator’s position is not filled.

But in a statement to the Port News, a North Coast Area Health Service spokesman said recruitment, interviewing and training of potential palliative care volunteers would continue.

“The Port Macquarie Health Campus palliative care and generalist nurse manager interviews and then arranges the training for prospective palliative care volunteers,” the spokesman said.

As in the past, the spokesman said a list of names was kept until there were enough new volunteers to hold the training.

Mr Brennan remains sceptical.

“I couldn’t believe it ... it is disgusting,” Mr Brennan said about the situation.

“Once they lose these positions, they don’t come back.”

A lecture as part of his nursing degree sparked the father-of-three’s interest in becoming a palliative care volunteer, and despite the setback, Mr Brennan is considering palliative care nursing as a career when he finishes his degree.

The qualified chef sought a career change after five years in the hospitality industry.

Mr Brennan earlier spent a decade as a carer for people with a disability, and was enticed back to the caring profession – this time as a nurse – after his daughter, Nichole, enrolled in a nursing degree at Armidale’s University of New England.