11th September 2002 - Board Minutes

Minutes of the Meeting of the Board of the Irish Blood Transfusion Service held on Wednesday 11th September 2002 at 10.00 am

Boardroom, National Blood Centre, James’s Street, Dublin 8

Present: Mr Michael McLoone (Chairman)
Mr Tony McNamara
Ms Valerie Mannix
Dr Mary Horgan
Dr Ann O’Connor
Ms Maura McGrath
Dr Liz Keane
Dr Gerry Crotty
Dr Helen Enright

Apologies: Mr Pat Farrell,
Dr Karen Murphy

In Attendance: Mr Andrew Kelly (Acting CEO)
Dr William Murphy (NMD)
Mr Michael Healy (SEO)


1. Minutes
i Minutes of Meeting of 10.07.02
The Minutes of the Board Meeting held on Wednesday 10th July 2002 were adopted on the proposal of Dr M Horgan, seconded by Mr T McNamara and signed by the Chairman, subject to agreed amendments.

ii Minutes of Meeting 18.07.02
The Minutes of the Meeting held on Thursday July 18th were adopted on the proposal of Dr E Keane, seconded by Dr A O’Connor and signed by the Chairman subject to agreed amendments.

iii Minutes of Meeting 31.07.02
The Minutes of the Board Meeting held on Wednesday 31st of July were adopted on the proposal of Dr M Horgan, seconded by Ms Valerie Mannix and signed by the Chairman, subject to agreed amendments.


2. Matters Arising from Minutes


3. Correspondence
Due to the shortage of time it was decided that this item would be deferred to a later meeting.

4. CEO’s Report
This was noted. Mr A Kelly noted that the Lindsay Tribunal Report had been released since posting his CEO report to members, and that in-depth analysis of the recommendations and conclusions would be required so as to respond expeditiously and appropriately to all recommendations.

In light of the recommendations of the Expert Review Group on Testing, it is envisaged that the development of the Cork Centre will need to take cognisance of the proposal to include testing in the design brief.

The Chairman and Board recorded their thanks to Mr Kelly for his work in dealing with the media and for his handling of all issues since taking up his post.

5. Organisational Development and Change
The Chairman informed the meeting that Mr Kelly and himself had met recently with HRS Consulting to evaluate and review the OD process. It was agreed that the OD process would restart as soon as possible. The following HR strategy was proposed

To Improve Working Relationships
Address ongoing issues concerning the roles / working relationship of NMD / RD.

HR Review – Circulation of Report
- Filling of Roles - In this regard, it was noted that the DoHC had been contacted with a view to obtaining finance for the proposed new positions in HR.

Management and Leadership
- Clarify role, objectives, process and composition of change group.

Review of Focus Group Outputs
- Recommence focus group meetings and prioritise meetings of consultant medical staff.

Governance
- Review status of MAC paper and plan implementation.
- Initiate Review of Finance Committee.
- Build on initial work on Board Process and Procedures.

The Chairman commented that it would be difficult to progress on many of the issues outlined in the briefing from HRS consultants without first dealing with the working relationship issues. The Board endorsed the strategy proposed in the papers circulated to members on the O.D. process and thanked the Chairman and Ms M McGrath for the ongoing work with the O.D. process. It was agreed that Mr A Kelly would negotiate the continuance of the contract with HRS consultants to facilitate the O.D. process.

7. Minutes of Finance Committee – 3rd July 2002
The Minutes were noted. The Finance Committee proposed that the financial surplus be placed on short-term deposit. This was agreed.

8. Minutes of MAC – 12th June 2002
The Minutes were noted. Ms V. Mannix raised the issue of the updating of the vCJD policy. Dr Murphy noted that there were a number of possible strategies with regard to the deferral of donors. It was agreed that the MAC should review all future strategies with regard to future blood supplies and revert to the Board on the matter.

Dr M. Horgan noted that the MAC would be discussing the role, function and composition of the MAC at their next meeting.

9. Report of the Expert Groups set up to review the decision to centralise donation testing in the NBC.

The Management Team was invited to attend a presentation given by Professor Zuck to the Board on the findings of the Expert Group.

It was agreed that the Board would meet Wednesday September 18th at 2.00pm in the NBC to deal with items deferred from the Board Meeting of September 11th 2002.

Signed:___________________________ Date:___________________________

The next Monthly Board Meeting to be held at 2.00pm on Wednesday, 9th of October, 2002 at the National Blood Centre.