A video conferencing service worth $17,000 that cuts down patient travel has not had the uptake hoped for at Dargaville Hospital.
However, those in charge are happy with how the service, called Telehealth, is facilitating healthcare in the Kaipara community.
Northland District Health Board minutes released last month found there had been a "poor" uptake of the service.
The service provides secure video link for appointments between patients in Dargaville Hospital and specialists in Whangarei or Auckland hospitals.
Kaipara Community Health Trust chief executive, Debbie Evans, said while the service was not being utilised as much as initially intended it was still benefiting the Kaipara community.
"It was a huge project and still very worthwhile," Ms Evans said. "It's still being used".
The cost of the equipment was fundraised with the help of the Kaipara community and had been in use for around a year.
"As a community we fundraised it to save us travelling," Ms Evans said.
Telehealth is being used particularly in Northland because patients often have to travel long distances to see specialists. Initially orthopaedic patients were expected to make up a large portion of Telehealth users, though recently an orthopaedic doctor from Whangarei Hospital started making visits to Dargaville.
In the future Dargaville may look at using its Telehealth equipment to connect its Intensive Care Unit with doctors around the country, an initiative being implemented by the Northland District Health Board soon.
"We're happy for it to be utilised in any way, really," Ms Evans said.
Northland DHB's Telehealth program manager, Roy Davidson, said the service in Dargaville was still in the early stages.
"One thing that was really needed was clinician uptake," Mr Davidson said. "It's probably the most important part of the picture."
While doctors are encouraged to utilise the service, it is not enforced.
"We've got patient feedback and it's very, very positive," Mr Davidson said. "Given the choice of travelling or Telehealth then they'll go Telehealth every time".