11th June 2003 - Board Minutes
Minutes of the Board Meeting held on Wednesday 11th June, 2003, Boardroom, National Blood Centre, Jamess Street, Dublin 8
Present:
Mr Michael McLoone (Chairman)
Ms Helen Enright
Dr Mary Horgan
Dr Gerry Crotty
Ms Valerie Mannix
Dr Cees Van Der Poel
Ms Maura McGrath
Dr Anne OConnor
Apologies:
Dr Liz Keane
Mr Tony McNamara
In Attendance:
Mr Andrew Kelly (A/CEO)
Dr William Murphy (NMD)
Mr Michael Healy (SEO)
1. Minutes of Meeting 14.05.2003
The minutes of the Board meeting held on Wednesday May 14th 2003 were adopted on the proposal of Ms. V. Mannix, seconded by Ms. M. McGrath and signed by the Chairman subject to agreed amendments.
2. Matters arising
Tendering Process for Recombinant Products
The A/CEO informed the Board that he had met with Ms. M. Jackson, Department of Health & Children and members of the product selection group. Tenders for recombinant products have been re-submitted and will be decided by late June 2003. The Terms of Reference for the product selection group have been revised.
Union Meeting
The meeting between the HSEA, IBEC, senior union officials and the IBTS is to be re-arranged due to the unavailability of some members. The meeting will focus on the new agreement and the verification process for payment of the remainder of the Benchmarking awards contained in that agreement. It was felt important that the peace clause contained in the Benchmarking agreement should be observed.
Donor Study
It is expected that Dr. E. Lawlors report will be available at the July Board meeting.
Governance
It was agreed that the recommendations ensuing from the review of the Terms of Reference of the Audit Committee and Finance Committee should come to Board through the Finance Committee.
The IBTS codes of conduct are being reviewed at present. It was noted that regulations prescribing positions of employment in public bodies for the purpose of the Ethics in Public Offices Act 1995 & 2001, have been expanded and will apply to all officers at a grade equivalent to Functional Officer or higher i.e. salary greater than 52,033.
3. Filling of Chief Executive Post
The Board noted that no permanent appointment would be made arising from the recent competition for the post of Chief Executive. The Board approved the continuation of the appointment of Mr. A. Kelly as Acting Chief Executive for a period of 12 months. It also confirmed its full support for Mr Kelly to progress the programme of organisational development and change.
The Board noted its appreciation for the work of Mr Kelly as Acting Chief Executive to date and in particular acknowledged his commitment and dedication in leading the implementation and go live of the Progesa system.
4. Correspondence
The Board approved the letter of response from Mr. M. McLoone to the SHB Chairman regarding NAT testing on the site of St. Finbarrs Hospital, funding for the new centre at CUH, and the refurbishment of the existing centre in Cork.
The Board noted the draft amendment to the Blood Transfusion Service Board Establishment Order 1965 incorporating the distribution of recombinant products. It is expected that this amendment order will be enacted in the coming weeks.
The reply of Dr. Power in regard to bilateral meetings was noted.
A letter from Ms. M. Jackson, Department of Health & Children in regard to funding for future testing for vCJD was noted. The Department is fully supportive of establishing a repository of samples from donors, so that these samples would be available for a vCJD test when it was brought to the market. However, the Department of Health and Children suggested that the funding should now be taken from IBTS funds and hoped that the IBTS would proceed with the project at the earliest opportunity.
5. Draft Annual Report
The draft annual report was discussed and a number of suggested amendments made. It was agreed that Board members could email further comments to the IBTS in the coming days. It was also suggested that the Annual Report be available in electronic form to download.
6. Chief Executives Report
The report was noted.
A two-year contract with Accuscience for the provision of blood bags was approved and the seal of the Board was assigned to the contract.
The contract for Factor VIII and IX recombinant products has been re-tendered. Due to the change in demand, it was agreed that efforts should be made to reduce the volumes over the next two years or alternatively to enter agreements with the hospitals in regard to their usage of recombinant products.
7. Cork Design Brief
Correspondence was received from the Department of Health & Children during the meeting to the effect that the design brief for the proposed new centre in Cork is currently being considered by the Department in the context of a review of health capital projects under the national development plan (NDP). It is expected that this review will be completed shortly and that the Department will then be in a position to advise the IBTS on capital priorities and the resources available under the NDP.
8. Organisational Development & Change
The Chairman circulated a paper on Organisational Development & Change that he and A/CEO had drafted. The paper addressed issues regarding the IBTS medical services department, management structures in both Dublin and Cork and proposed steps to be taken within the OD process moving forward. It is expected that the A/CEO will come to Board in the autumn, following consultation with relevant parties, with proposals on the reform of structures in the IBTS.
9. Minutes of MAC Meeting 09.04.03
The minutes were noted.
Dr. Horgan noted that the Role, Function and Composition of the MAC would be reviewed as part of the overall review of the organisation of medical work and management structures within the IBTS.
The deferral period for donors who had travelled in areas of SARS virus infectivity, was increased from 14 days to 21 days in line with WHO guidelines.
Due to the shortage of group B Octaplas, the MAC agreed that plasma based group B would be supplied to hospitals until the shortage of group B Octaplas was resolved. It was agreed that the NMD would write to the hospitals in this regard.
Dr. W. Murphy gave a presentation on Pathogen Inactivation and Bacteriological Screening at the June MAC meeting. It was agreed that bacteriological screening should be considered by the IBTS and the implication would be considered in greater detail at the July MAC meeting.
10. Minutes of Finance Committee 07.05.03
The Board approved a 1 million overdraft facility for the IBTS.
Ms. V. Mannix briefed the Board on the minutes of the Finance Committee meeting 07.05.03 and Audit Committee Meeting 14.05.03 which were circulated at the Board meeting. Concern was expressed at the lack of certainty on the recoverability of fees in relation to the Lindsay Tribunal, legal costs in respect of two High Court cases in 2002, and funding in relation to future tests for vCJD. It was suggested that the implications of non-payments of these items should be reviewed. It was agreed that the Director of Finance should give a presentation to the Board on the matter at the July meeting.
11. Corporate Governance
The Board approved the Chairmans statement on the system of internal financial control in the IBTS which would be submitted to the Department of Health and Children.
It was agreed that the reporting of risk assessment and internal control systems would be collated into a formalised single document and presented to Board for sign off by the Audit Committee on an annual basis. This procedure would facilitate the drafting and agreeing of the Chairmans statement on the system of internal financial control in the IBTS in the future. It was suggested that the relationship of the Board to the pension fund trustees should be examined in terms of accountability and assessment of risk.
12. Date of next meeting
The next meeting of the Board of the IBTS will take place on Wednesday 9th July 2003 at 2.00 p.m. at the National Blood Centre.
