12th September 2006 - Board Minutes
Minutes of the Meeting of the Board of the Irish Blood Transfusion Service held on Tuesday 12th September 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 Mary Cahill
Mr David Keenan
Dr Robert Landers
Ms Margaret Mullett
Dr Margaret Murray
Ms Jane OBrien
Apologies: Mr. Mark Moran
Mr Gerry ODwyer
In Attendance: Mr. Andrew Kelly, Chief Executive
Dr. William Murphy, National Medical Director
Ms Mirenda ODonovan Secretary to the Board
It was agreed that Mr David Lowe would Chair the meeting until the Chairperson arrived as she had been unavoidably delayed.
1. Minutes of Meeting11th July 2006
The minutes of the Board meeting of 11th July 2006 were adopted on the proposal of Mr David Keenan and seconded by Dr Mary Cahill subject to a minor amendment.
2. Matters arising
Paul Strenger carried out a review of the National Haemovigilance Office in July. His report has not yet been received.
A response has been submitted to the Irish Medicines Board Report arising from the inspection of the NBC in June.
3. Audit Committee Meeting29th June 2006
The minutes of the Audit Committee meeting of 29th June 2006were noted by the Board. The Chairperson of the Audit Committee thanked Mr David Lowe for attending the last meeting to ensure that a quorum was present. The Comptroller and Auditor Generals office were in attendance and expressed satisfaction with the procedures in place.
4. Bank Mandate for Anglo-Irish Bank
The Board agreed to sanction a bank mandate for Anglo-Irish Bank, to facilitate more effective management of the organisations capital reserve. This was signed by Mr David Lowe.
5. Minutes of the Medical Advisory Committee meeting24th May 2006.
The Minutes of the MAC meeting of 24th May were noted. The Chairperson of the MAC informed the Board that the minutes of the June and July MAC meetings had been reviewed at the MAC meeting today and would be brought to the Board in October.
Dr Joan Power made a presentation to the Committee. The Committee had discussed the current situation regarding West Nile Virus. West Nile Virus is now considered endemic to North America and it was held that the 56 day deferral for WNV was adequate. In relation to the Flu pandemic, the MAC would continue to keep it under review. It was confirmed that a supply of Tamiflu had been secured but was not yet delivered.
In relation to vCJD, it was noted that the UK now had 162 cases of confirmed vCJD. There was evidence to suggest that the trend in French cases of vCJD was different from theUKin relation to the mean age of those affected and therefore it could be concluded that any future Irish cases may not follow the UK trend.
It is proposed that the revised terms of reference for the Medical Advisory Committee will be submitted to the Board at its November meeting.
The Board approved the appointment of Dr Margaret Murray the MAC.
6. Correspondence
The correspondence was noted.
7. CorkCentre
The CE briefed the Board on the background to the evaluation of the design brief submitted in 2003. The company which was appointed to carry out an option appraisal on an updated proposal for the development of new facilities inCork, presented the draft report to the Board.
The Board approved that the Finance Committee, in consultation with the Chairperson, would consider the final draft of the report at their scheduled meeting on 27th September 2006.
8. Chief Executives Report
The Chief Executives Report was noted. The Chief Executive informed the Board that the blood supply was adequate at present and that a number of activities were scheduled for Blood for Life Week.
Preparation of the Business Continuity Plan in the event of a flu pandemic was ongoing.
The Chief Executive updated the Board on two legal cases.
It was agreed to change the date of the November Board meeting to Wednesday 15th November at 1.30pm.
9. Human Resources
The HR Director made a presentation on HR activities in the IBTS, including a number of HR initiatives currently underway.
10. Framework for Corporate & Financial Governance (DOH&C April 2006)
It was agreed to defer this item to the next meeting.
11. Date of next meeting
It was noted that the next Board meeting would be inCorkon 10th October. It was agreed that all Board members would be contacted regarding arrangements.
It was agreed that the vacancies on the Audit Committee and the Finance Committee would be considered at the next meeting.
Signed:_____________________________ Date:________________
