Health bosses have promised that March will be the final month of no weekend operations at a Highland Perthshire health unit.
The health board has stated that the reduced hours at Pitlochry Minor Injury and Illness Unit (MIIU) will continue throughout March.
Perth and Kinross Health and Social Care Partnership, which runs community facilities in the region, has confirmed the Ferry Road centre will remain shut at weekends, and will close at 4.30pm during the week.
The centre has battled against a personnel crisis throughout the winter and has had to close down some days due to not having available staff – but the partnership has said that by next month, they will be reopening at the weekend.
Highland ward councillor Mike Williamson said NHS Tayside need to do more for people who depend on its services.
He said: “I would not be surprised if my constituents view this as a betrayal. Folk in Pitlochry and Aberfeldy have waited long enough for this temporary staffing issue to be resolved.
“Tayside is made up of two cities but many large rural areas across Angus, Perthshire and Kinross-shire.
“Residents in these communities need to have access to medical services and it seems, from my experience, that NHS Tayside are not working hard enough to secure this.
“NHS Tayside need to be actively recruiting to serve their whole of the population both rural and urban.
“They have plenty of time to resolve their staffing shortages at the Pitlochry minor injuries unit.
“They need to adapt their recruitment policy to actively attract staff to come and work in rural communities.
“There is no denying that Brexit along with current immigration policies are contributing to the staffing shortages which are being felt across all sectors nationally but have become more magnified within Highland Perthshire.
“The minor injuries unit in Pitlochry and the Aberfeldy Hospital are clearly the public facing services which people rely upon and they should be rightly concerned.
“The population projections for Perthshire have predicted that there will be a rise in the number of elderly coming to live in our community.
“It is important that we create an environment which encourages people to work within the care sector.”
A spokeswoman for NHS Tayside said they have no involvment in the running of the Pitlochry unit.
A spokesperson for Perth and Kinross Health and Social Care Partnership said: “We are continuing to monitor the staffing situation at the Pitlochry Minor Injury and illness Unit and from April, we will be extending the opening hours to cover the weekend period.
“Information on changes to opening hours in April will be shared as soon as possible.”