14th June 2006 - Board Minutes

Minutes of the Meeting of the Board of the Irish Blood Transfusion Service held on Wednesday 14th June 2006 at 2.00pm the Boardroom,National Blood Centre, James's Street, Dublin 8

Present:                                  Ms M McGrath (Chairperson)

                                               Mr.SeanWyse

Mr. David Lowe

                                               Mr. David Keenan

Ms. Jane OBrien

Dr Robert Landers

Dr Cees Van Der Poel

Apologies:                  Dr.Melanie Cotter                           

Mr. Mark Moran

Dr. Mary Cahill

In Attendance:           Mr. Andrew Kelly (CE)

                                    Dr. William Murphy (NMD)

                                    Mr. Jim Shanahan (SEO)

Minutes of Meeting 16^th May 2006

The minutes of the Board meeting held on Tuesday 16^th May 2006, were adopted subject to a minor amendment, on the proposal of Mr S Wyse, seconded by Mr D Keenan and were signed by the Chairperson.

Matters Arising

The CE informed the Board that a further meeting has been arranged with the IMB on 20^th May 2006 to discuss the NHO.

The CE informed the meeting that a draft SLA with the hospitals was nearing completion and it was agreed that it would be brought to the July Board Meeting.

The Chairperson welcomed to the Board Dr Robert Landers, and welcomed back Dr Cees Van Der Poel who has been appointed by the Tánaiste for a further term.

Deloitte representatives informed the Board on their work to date on the review of Management Structures in the organisation. The Board approved that they continue with the process with the CE and the NMD.

Financial  Accounts

- Jan/April 2006

- Overview of Financial Statements 2005

Ms S Bailey, Director of Finance (DOF) gave a presentation to the Board on the Draft Financial Statements 2005 and a review of the financial performance over the period Jan/April 2006.

In relation to the Financial Statements 2005 the DOF explained the proposals to set up a capital reserve for the development of new facilities in Corkand the FRS 17 adjustment in relation to the pension deficit and the impact of these on the accumulated surplus at the end of 2005. The Board approved the setting up of a separate account to manage the capital reserve and the transfer of 5 million into this account.

The DOF explained that the Audited Financial Statements for 2005 were with the Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General for review and discussion with the Audit Committee prior to signature. She also indicated that she had seen a draft of the Management Letter and that there were no significant issues in it. The Board approved the Financial Statements 2005 subject to no material changes and also approved that the Financial Statements be signed by two members from Mr D Keenan, Ms J OBrien and Mr D Lowe on behalf of the Board after the Audit Committee has met with the C & AG. The Board approved Mr D Lowe as a member of the Audit Committee for this purpose.

In relation to the Financial Situation to end April 2006 the DOF noted that (1) a surplus had been recorded for the period (2) demand for blood, platelets and blood products was below budget and (3) expenditure for the period was below budget in all categories.

The Chairperson thanked the DOF for her excellent presentation and the continuing excellent work of the Finance Department in the support of the Finance Committee and the Audit Committee.

Minutes of the Audit Committee Meeting29^th March 2006

This item was not discussed as the Audit Committee Meeting had been postponed pending the review of the Financial Statements 2005 by the C & AG.

5.         Chief Executives Report

The CE report was noted.

The CE informed the Board that maintaining the blood supply was very difficult at present and that a major summer promotion campaign Give before you Go was underway to boost stocks over the summer holiday period.

The CE informed the Board that he has arranged a meeting with SIPTU on Friday 16^th June 2006 to discuss working relationships with the union.

The CE informed the meeting that Singapore had gone live on eProgesa and a meeting has been arranged with MAK Systems for 12^th July 2006 to discuss outstanding issues and agree implementation timelines.

The Balanced Scorecard had been approved at the last Finance Committee meeting and the CE will update the Board on it at regular intervals.

CorkCentre

The Chairperson informed the meeting that the Tánaiste has agreed to a meeting with the Board and a date is to be arranged shortly.

The Board approved that the CE proceed with a restricted tender competition for the appointment of a company to perform an option appraisal on proposals for the development of new facilities in Cork with a view to agreeing an updated proposal by October 2006, at the latest.

7.         Allocation of Financial Resources

This item had been dealt with already under Item 3 above.

8.         Minutes of MAC Meeting12^th April 2006

The Minutes of the MAC Meeting 12^th April 2006 were noted.

The NMD informed the Board that agreement had been reached with Navigant to conduct trials on pathogen inactivation of plasma in 6 hospitals and it is hoped that they will commence in the final quarter of 2006. Trials will also take place in Canada .

The NMD noted that discussions regarding the implications of a flu pandemic are on-going. The IBTS has nominated an official to an EBA group that is considering the issue. The Chairperson asked that a paper be presented to the Board on a planned approach to the management of a flu pandemic from an IBTS perspective.

The NMD also noted that a 2^nd prion filter will have a CE Mark application made in July. On approval it will then be evaluated and it would be hoped to proceed to clinical trials in November/December 2006.

The Board approved the appointment of Dr R Landers to the MAC.

9.                 Minutes of Finance Committee Meeting10^th April 2006

The Minutes of the Finance Committee Meeting 10^th April 2006were noted.

Mr D Lowe noted that the work on Activity Based Costing and IBTS Pricing Policy for the next three years is on-going.

The CE noted that most capital expenditure to date in 2006 was not included in the budget and that this would have to be tightened up on in the 2007 budget process.

10.             Code of Conduct for IBTS Employees

The Board welcomed the finalisation of the Code of Conduct. They approved its content and issue to all staff members.

11.             Outputs from Board Governance Workshop

The Board reviewed and approved the document subject to some minor amendments. It was agreed that the recommendations would be actioned.

The Chairperson noted that communication between the CE and herself and other Board Members is critical around Red Flag Issues.

12.             Correspondence

The correspondence was noted. The Chairperson requested that the Structures- Roles and Responsibilities of the Board as outlined in section 3 of the document Framework for Corporate & Financial Governance (DOH&C) be put as an Agenda item for the next meeting.

13.             Date of Next Meeting

The next meeting of the Board will take place on Tuesday 11^th July 2006 at2.30pmin the NBC.

It was agreed that meetings for the remainder of the year will take place on the second Tuesday of every month at 2.30pm. The Secretary will circulate a list of revised dates to all Board Members.

            Signed:&&&&&&&&&&.&&..           Date:&&&&&&&&