Minor injury units in Dorset will start to reopen from the third week in June - but appointments will need to be pre-booked.

The announcement comes just after a Dorset councillor complained that his request for information about their future were being ignored.

Cllr Jon Andrews, who is also mayor of Sherborne, said he had twice written to ask about the future of minor injury units in his town and at Portland and Blandford, which have been shut since last March – but had not received a reply.

The three centres have been closed to try and stop the spread of coronavirus infection, although on Portland there were problems prior to the pandemic with staffing levels.

Staff from Sherborne are currently working in units at Shaftesbury and Wimborne where opening hours have been extended.

An official from the Dorset Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust who was due to speak about the units at last week's online Dorset Council people and health scrutiny committee wrote shortly before to apologise for not attending.

On Friday afternoon, in response to a request for information made by the Local Democracy Reporting Service Dorset HealthCare Trust issued a statement.

It said the units would all be re-opening from June 21, operating on a booked appointments system.

“Since March 2020, the units at Blandford, Portland and Sherborne have been temporarily closed. While this will have affected those communities, we have ensured people could continue to access MIUs in Bridport, Shaftesbury, Swanage, Wimborne and Weymouth – with longer opening hours at Shaftesbury and Wimborne.

“The service has been carrying out telephone assessments initially, with in-person appointments booked only if needed. This has helped avoid crowded waiting rooms and meant that people know exactly when they will be seen.”

Dorset HealthCare says it is planning for all MIUs to revert to their pre-Covid opening hours – but with appointments being pre-booked at all locations, following telephone assessments. These arrangements will start from June 21.

Jane Elson, Dorset HealthCare’s Service Director for Integrated Community Services, said: “We have adapted our urgent care services very rapidly over the last year and learned a huge amount about how people use them.

“We’ve all had to change the way we do things in response to the pandemic and we know this has caused disruption and concern for local people.

“We’re delighted that we can now plan to re-open services which had to close temporarily in line with the easements of lockdown, and look forward to continuing to support local people and continuously improve services for the future.”

Cllr Robin Legg said until now the only statement about the future of the units he had seen was ‘ambiguous’.

“It would be nice to keep the units and deal directly with them, rather than through some other process, such as calling 111,” he said.

Cllr Legg said he had recently tried to take a relative to Sherborne’s Yeatman Hospital for treatment but was told to go to Yeovil Hospital instead.

Said Cllr Andrews : “I would like to know why a public servant decides not to answer anything; to the MP, to the local council, or to Dorset Council.…we haven’t had a proper answer all the way through.”

He said that he hoped the units would now manage to find enough suitable staff because some who used to work in the minor injuries unit in Sherborne had now left for other posts.

“I don’t know what the cost is going to be in trying to employ the kind of staff who were not only great at their job but know the people of Sherborne,” he said.

West Dorset MP Chris Loder said last week that he had also been trying to get a firm commitment about re-opening the units and was to continue to press the issue, although added that he was confident the units would open again.