12th June 2002 - Board Minutes
Minutes of the Meeting of the Board of the Irish Blood Transfusion Service held on Wednesday 12th June, 2002 at 2.00pm
Board Room, National Blood Centre, Jamess Street, Dublin 8
Present: Mr Michael McLoone (Chairman)
Mr Tony McNamara
Ms Valerie Mannix
Dr Mary Horgan
Dr Ann OConnor
Ms Maura McGrath
Apologies: Mr Pat Farrell
Dr Liz Keane
Dr Gerry Crotty
Dr Karen Murphy
Dr Helen Enright
In Attendance: Mr Martin Hynes (CEO)
Dr William Murphy (NMD)
Mr Michael Healy (SEO)
Minutes of Meeting 8.05.2002
The Minutes of the Board meeting held on Wednesday 8th May 2002 were adopted on the proposal of Ms V Mannix, seconded by Dr A OConnor and signed by the Chairman.
CEOs Report
This was noted. The Blood Supply remains robust. Issues for red cells for the first five months of 2002 have increased by 6% compared to 2001 and issues for blood components (platelets) have increased by 17.5%. The situation will be monitored over the coming months to see if this trend continues.
The Medical Council has made an order under section 45(6) and (9) of the Medical Practitioners Act 1978 for documentation produced by the BTSB at the Finlay Tribunal. The information relates to an Inquiry by the Fitness to Practice Committee involving a former employee of the BTSB.
The Chairman and Board members welcomed the offer by the SHB for a site at CUH for a new IBTS Centre. A formal letter containing this offer has yet to be received.
Review of Testing
The CEO briefed the Board on the progress of the testing review group. A joint meeting of the members of the review group, SHB and IBTS personnel had taken place on 19th May. Discussion took place on the Terms of Reference. Professor Zuck circulated a schematic on testing. This set out the context in which the review would take place and it was agreed by all parties. The primary focus is on the management of test results.
It was noted that Professor Cash has contacted the IBTS since that meeting requesting additional documentation. The requested documentation, where it exists and is available to the IBTS, will be forwarded. Personal details of staff will not be included. It was also noted that Prof. Zuck had contacted the Chairman regarding the implications for their work of a Consultant from Cork being put on Administrative Leave. The Chairman clarified the position to Prof. Zuck.
5. Organisational Development Programme
The Chairman presented a paper on the Organisational Development Programme and gave a progress report to the Board. The Chairman concluded his briefing by suggesting that the report on the delay in donor notification in the Munster region needed to be dealt with as a separate issue on the Boards agenda. This was agreed.
Report to the Board on the background to the request for Dr. J. Power to take administrative leave
The Chairman stated that he had received a request from Dr. Power to attend the meeting. The CEO presented a report on the background to the request made to Dr. Power to take administrative leave.
The Chairman and members sought and were given information and clarification by the CEO and NMD on various aspects of the report. The NMD explained the circumstances in which it was agreed that he would write to the 27 donors. It was confirmed that the information had been acquired by the NMD on a visit to Cork on Monday June 10th. Dr Power was not in the Cork Centre on that day.
The Executive left the meeting at this point.
The Board decided not to invite Dr. Power to address the Board as the unanimous view was that the CEOs report contained the information needed to review his decision to require Dr. Power to take administrative leave. Following a comprehensive discussion on the CEOs report the Board made the following decisions:
1. The Board noted the request from Dr. Power to attend the meeting but decided not to meet her in advance of taking its decision.
2. The Board unanimously decided not to accept that Dr. Power refused to make the address of a specified number of donors available to it. In his report to the Board the Chief Executive stated "I phoned Dr. Power and asked her to give the information to Dr. Murphy. She said that she was not refusing to do so but was making it available to the Chairman."
3. The Board does not accept that Dr. Power's actions in this case constituted an immediate and serious risk to the safety, health, or welfare of patients or staff under the terms of her contract. Consequently the Board did not accept the decision of the Chief Executive to place her on Administrative Leave.
The Board is instructing the Chief Executive to write to Dr. Power setting out its decision and granting her request for three rest days from Monday to Wednesday, June 10th to June 12th 2002. Dr. Power can resume her duties tomorrow morning Thursday 13th June 2002.
Minutes of Medical Advisory Committee 17th April 2002
The minutes were noted. Dr. Horgan informed the meeting that the MAC will be considering, at its July meeting, the document drafted by HRS Consulting on the operation of the MAC. It was noted that Dr E Lawlor agreed to circulate a paper for presentation at the next meeting of the Board, regarding the establishment of an IBTS Ethics Committee. Legal advice will be required on this matter.
7. Minutes of Finance Committee 1st May 2002
The minutes were noted. Mr T McNamara agreed to continue as Chairman of the Finance Committee pro tem.
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Signed Date
The next monthly Board Meeting to be held at 2.00pm on Wednesday 10th July 2002 at the National Blood Centre.
