Individuals and organisations battled against the naysayers in raising about $407,000 for construction of the $850,000 Betty Orth Memorial Unit for Diabetes and Renal Services, officially opened in early 2008 by then NSW Health Minister Reba Meagher.

The diabetes unit adjoins an oncology unit where people come and go from across the region.

This week Dubbo Hospital's acting general manager Graham Dyer said space was at a premium at the oncology unit.

It was "not a satisfactory situation" that chemotherapy patients could no longer have a loved one by their side when undergoing treatment, he said.

A promised extension of the oncology unit under the $150 million stage three and four redevelopment of the hospital has deterred hospital management from trying to shift it. Instead, the general manager has started a "conversation" with staff of the diabetes unit about finding a solution.

"We are looking at what are the options as we know we need to increase the space in the cancer unit," he said.

Moving diabetes services temporarily or permanently to the vacated and old maternity unit on the north-western side of the hospital has been mooted.

"It has a separate entrance and reasonable access," Mr Dyer said.

"Is it as good as the building they are in now? No, it's not."

The general manager insisted that the relocating of diabetes services was "not a done deal".

He said diabetes unit staff had been encouraged to "come up" with other options for addressing the challenges posed by the inadequate size of the oncology unit.

Mr Dyer said the family of the late Betty Orth had been consulted.

"They want to retain the name but accept there might be some changes in location from time to time," he said. The general manager said the building partially-funded by the community would "always be utilised for the delivery of health services to the people of Dubbo".

"One of the things we have to do is work out how we make use of the resources we've got to best provide services and sometimes it means making decisions that people won't like," he said.

Mr Dyer will met with the diabetes unit staff again next week with the aim of making a decision "sooner rather than later".