Aberdeen City council has had to spend nearly £2million on agency staff to keep its care homes running.
But new figures obtained by the Press and Journal have revealed the cost of plugging gaps in cover at the two local authority-run establishments has fallen.
The bill for stand-in staff was £607,000 in 2010 – but just £78,000 last year.
North-east Labour MSP Lewis Macdonald said the need for agency workers highlighted the need to remain a part of the single market in the Brexit negotiations.
He said: “The need for care workers is only going to go up, but the challenge of finding the right people to do this important job is also getting harder, especially in and around Aberdeen.
“Minimum standards of pay and conditions for care workers need to be in place to attract the right people to do the job.
“The care sector also needs to be able to recruit staff from elsewhere in Europe and beyond, something which will get harder unless the negotiations following the Brexit vote protect our access to the single market.”
A Scottish Government spokeswoman said: “We have provided further funding of £10million a year, as part of an arrangement with local authorities and providers, worth £20million a year overall, to enable care providers to improve the quality of care and address staff pay and conditions.
“While we would expect local authorities to strive to reduce agency staff spend, the use of agency staff allows organisations to respond to periods of planned and unplanned absence including long term sickness, unexpected vacancies and maternity and paternity leave which ensures service continuity during these times.
“Earlier this year we also confirmed our commitment to investing an additional £250 million to support the integration of health and social care.”
Councillor Len Ironside, chairman of the Joint Integration Board said: “Aberdeen City Council has become less and less reliant on agency staff since the Labour led administration took control of the Council.
“Bon Accord Care working with the City Council have successfully managed to recruit care home staff meaning that our bill for agency staff has reduced to just £78,000 this year compared to £607,000 when the SNP were in administration.
“We are proud that the city council working alongside Bon Accord Care has managed to be less dependent on agency workers meaning those in need of care see familiar faces on a regular basis.”
