A number healthcare staffing firms in Ireland providing personnel to the Health Service Executive (HSE) have been doing well financially, the Irish Times writes today, with firms including CPL almost doubling their revenues last year.

But it is only a select number of staffing firms which have been able to benefit from this as the supply of staff to the healthcare sector “is now confined to a small number of firms who successfully tendered for the work,” the paper writes.

CPL’s revenue was up to €29.26 million last year while Nurse on Call Ltd increased sales to €26.8 million from €16.9 million in the previous year. Global Medics also boosted revenue to €22 million from €15 million in 2010. Other firms that did well include Locum Express and TTM Healthcare.

At the same time the HSE is trying to cut down its agency costs, which will impact services offered in the sector. Particularly in the northeast of the country there has been an outcry over a possible HSE ban on agency staff which is said to “put lives at risk.”