11th July 2006 - Board Minutes

Minutes of the Meeting of the Board of the Irish Blood Transfusion Service held on Tuesday 11th July 2006 at 2.30pm the Boardroom, National Blood Centre, James's Street, Dublin 8

 Present:                                  Ms M McGrath (Chairperson)

                                               Mr.SeanWyse

Mr. David Lowe

                                              Dr Cees Van Der Poel

Apologies:                  Mr. Mark Moran

Dr. Mary Cahill

Mr. David Keenan

Ms. Jane OBrien

Dr Robert Landers

In Attendance:           Mr. Andrew Kelly (CE)

                                    Dr. William Murphy (NMD)

                                    Mr. Jim Shanahan (SEO)

Minutes of Meeting14^th June  2006

The minutes of the Board meeting held on Wednesday 14^th June 2006, were adopted on the proposal of Mr D Lowe, seconded by Mr S Wyse and were signed by the Chairperson.

Matters Arising

The CE informed the Board that the proposed meeting the IMB on 20^th June 2006to discuss the NHO was deferred until the review of the NHO is completed.

The Reserve Fund for the development of new facilities inCork, as approved by the Board and the C&AG has been set up.

It is hoped to arrange a meeting with MAK Systems on 18^th July 2006to assess if it is possible to go live on e Progesa before the end of the year. Arrangements are being made for the IT Manager to visitSingaporeto learn from their experience to date on e Progesa.

The tender competition, for the appointment of a consultant to perform an option appraisal on an updated proposal for the development of new facilities in Cork, as approved by theBoard, has been advertised on E Tenders.

Minutes of the Audit Committee Meeting29^th March 2006.

The minutes of the Audit Committee meeting 29^th March 2006and other documents circulated were noted. As no members of the Audit Committee were present at the meeting there was no further discussion on these documents. The Boardhad agreed at the June Meeting that the Financial Statements for 2005 could be signed by the Audit Committee once there was no material difference.

Pensions Report on Investment Review

The Board noted the Report on Investment review and approved the future Investment Strategy recommended by Acuvest and the trustees.

6.         Chief Executives Report

The CE report was noted.

The CE informed the Board that the blood supply was adequate at present. A recent campaign targetted at O Neg donors had proved successful and stocks had increased significantly. A similar campaign for O Pos is to be run in the coming weeks as it has been hard to maintain adequate stocks of this blood group.

The formal IMB Report on the Inspection carried out in the NBC during the w/c 15^th May 2006 has been received and a response to the deficiencies observed will issue by 24^th July 2006.

The Director of Quality is carrying out a gap analysis on the diagnostics laboratories in the NBC & MRTC with a view to accreditation under ISO 15189 and it is due for completion by the end of August.

A group has been established to develop the IBTS planning for and response to a flu pandemic. The Group is to report to the CE by September.

The CE updated the Board on two current legal cases.

The Board noted the Report of the Working Group on Haemochromotosis. The NMD informed the Board that it will be necessary for the IBTS to conduct a Pilot Scheme  in 2007 for the provision of venesection services to people with haemochromotosis at designated special clinics. The intention would be to ask the person who has undergone venesection if they voluntarily wish to donate the blood for transfusion purposes. If the answer is yes the person would then be screened in the same way as any other donor and a decision made on whether the unit can be used or is to be discarded.

On the completion of the Pilot Scheme it will be necessary to make a business case  for offering the service on an on-going basis and the funding of the scheme.

The draft SLAto be agreed with all hospitals was approved subject to some minor amendments.

CorkCentre

The Chairperson informed the meeting that we are still awaiting confirmation from the Tánaistes office on a date for the proposed meeting.

Minutes of MAC Meeting 24^th May 2006

The Minutes of the MAC Meeting 24^th May 2006 were not circulated as there had not been a quorum for a formal MAC meeting.

The Chairperson noted that with the appointment of new members to the Boardthat this would not be an issue in the future. She also noted how important it is that regular MAC meetings take place due to the important governance role it plays.

9.                 Framework for Corporate & Financial Governance (DOH&C April 2006)

- Structures Roles and Responsibilities

This item was deferred until the September meeting.

10.             Correspondence

A letter from the Chairperson of the Pension Trustees was noted.

3.                 Haemovigilance / Recipient Tracing Programme

Dr Emer Lawlor, Deputy NMD, gave a presentation to the Board on the on-going work of the NHO and the Recipient Tracing Programme.

The Chairperson acknowledged the exceptional work of the staff involved in developing the DCU Modules.

The Chairperson thanked Dr Lawlor for her detailed presentation and acknowledged that the Board will have to give further consideration to the role of the NHO at a later date.

11.             Date of Next Meeting

The next meeting of the Board will take place on Tuesday 12^th September 2006 at2.30pmin the NBC.

There was a discussion regarding the hosting of a dinner either the evening prior to or after the October Board Meeting in Cork on 10^th October 2006, to acknowledge the contribution of formerBoardMembers, Dr M Horgan, Dr E Keane and Mr T McNamara,

It was agreed that the Secretary would contact all Board Members with a view to establishing the best arrangements for the dinner and confirm details to all Board Members.

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