June 2009 Board Minutes

Minutes of the Meeting of the Board of the Irish Blood Transfusion Service held on Tuesday 16th June 2009 at 2.00pm in the Boardroom, National Blood Centre, James's Street, Dublin 8.

Present: Ms. Maura McGrath (Chairperson)
Mr. Sean Wyse 
Mr. David Lowe (via audio link) 
Ms. Margaret Mullett
Ms. Jane O'Brien
Mr David Keenan
Dr Cees Van Der Poel
Dr Mary Cahill
Mr Mark Moran
Dr Margaret Murray

Apologies: Mr Gerry O'Dwyer

Also in attendance: Mr. Andrew Kelly, Chief Executive
Dr. William Murphy, Medical &Scientific Director
Ms Mirenda O'Donovan Secretary to the Board

1. Minutes of the meeting of the Board on 19th May 2009 
The minutes of the meeting of the Board on 19th May 2009 were agreed subject to amendment and proposed by Mr Dave Keenan and seconded by Ms Jane O'Brien.

2. Matters arising 
vCJD Advisory Group
Correspondence from the DOH&C is on the agenda regarding the request to re-establish the vCJD Expert Advisory Group.

Sale of plasma
A survey of donors regarding the issue of consent is proposed given that the ethical issue has been clarified.

MUH Transfer
This is progressing slower than expected. The Chief has transferred and one other staff member has transferred. Installation of equipment is due to commence in 2 weeks.

Cork Centre
CUH have not yet appointed a design team to produce their development control plan for Cork City Council. This will have an adverse affect on our proposed timelines. The recent report published on the reconfiguration of services in HSE South was noted.

6. Resumed from May meeting: Research and Development in the IBTS - Strategic Options
A number of options proposed were considered by the Board. It was agreed that an Oversight Committee with external expertise would be essential. It was agreed that research and development was important for the IBTS. It was agreed that the M&SD would be supported by a small group to put together a framework. It was agreed that Dr Cees Van Der Poel, Dr Mary Cahill and Mr Mark Moran would work with the M&SD to progress this.

7. Resumed from May meeting: Annual presentation by Medical & Scientific Director 
The alignment of IBTS objectives with HSE objectives was discussed. It was agreed that the M&SD and CE would liaise with the newly appointed Director of Quality and Clinical Care in the HSE to discuss ways to achieve this. It was agreed that benchmarking research, currently underway would be presented to the Finance Committee in the Autumn.

3. Chief Executive's Report

Quality 
The IMB inspection of the NHO took place on 11/12 June. Two major and three other deficiencies were identified. The IMB are carrying out an inspection of the Cork Centre this week.

Flu Pandemic 
The IBTS Flu Pandemic Plan is in draft form, but is being finalised. It is intended to take measures to increase the blood supply by early autumn.

Pension Scheme
There have been no developments.

Meeting of Chairperson with Minister
The Chairperson briefed the Board on her meeting with the Minister. Dr Cees Van der Poel has been reappointed to the Board. Dr Robert Landers has not been reappointed. Ms Margaret Mullett has indicated that she does not want to be reappointed. The Chairperson thanked the outgoing Board members for their contribution and commitment during their term of office.

Recruitment embargo
The Advisory Group on vCJD was discussed and the Minister said she would revisit this.

4. Minutes of the Finance Committee meeting of 23rd February 2009

The Executive Finance Group examining cost saving measures met the Finance Committee.

5. Minutes of the MAC meeting of 21st April 2009

It was agreed to seek nominations for external expertise on the MAC from the following: Haemophilia Council; Royal College of Physicians, the NVRL and the HPSC. It was noted that some of these bodies had previously had representation at the MAC. The MAC reiterated its concern regarding the need for an Expert Advisory Group on vCJD to be re-established. The Royal College of Physicians is considering an IBTS proposal to carry out anonymised testing on 10,000 donor samples using the vCJD test that is in development. A response is expected by the end of this month. It was confirmed that donor participation in the study would be secured by explicit consent. The MAC Annual Report will be brought to the Board in September as the Chairperson of the MAC will not be available for the July meeting.

8. Correspondence

A response has been received from the DOH&C regarding the Options appraisal document on prion filtration submitted in April. 
It was agreed that the M&SD would contact the CMO of the DOH&C to discuss it and that the CE would write to the Secretary General of the DOH&C.

9. Date of next meeting

The next meeting of the Board will take place at the Cork Centre on Tuesday 21st July at 2.00pm.