8th January 2003 - Board Minutes
Minutes of the Meeting of the Board of the Irish Blood Transfusion Service held on Wednesday 8th January 2003 at 2.00pm
Boardroom, National Blood Centre, Jamess Street, Dublin 8
Present: Mr Michael McLoone (Chairman)
Mr Tony McNamara
Dr Mary Horgan
Dr Ann OConnor
Dr Liz Keane
Dr Gerry Crotty
Prof Cees Van der Poel
Ms Valerie Mannix
Apologies: Ms Maura McGrath
Dr Karen Murphy
Dr Helen Enright
Mr Pat Farrell
In Attendance: Mr Andrew Kelly (A/CEO)
Dr William Murphy (NMD)
Mr Michael Healy (SEO)
Minutes of Meeting 11.12.2002
The Minutes of the Board Meeting held on Wednesday 11th December 2002, were adopted on the proposal of Dr Mary Horgan, seconded by Dr Elizabeth Keane and signed by the Chairman.
1. Matters Arising
Filling of CEO Post
The Chairman informed the Board that he had met Deloitte & Touche Recruitment Consultants who had been engaged to assist in the appointment of a CEO for the IBTS. A draft advertisement and particulars of the Office were discussed. The advertisement and particulars of the Office are being redrafted to incorporate the views of the Board. The remuneration package for the position may be left open to attract as wide a field as possible. It was also suggested that if a secondment from another state body was a possibility, that this could be dealt with on an individual basis should it arise. The revised documents will be circulated to Board members for observations before the post is advertised. It was agreed that the CEO position should be advertised before the end of January 2003. Mr T McNamara inquired if the CEO is an ex officio member of the Board. Mr Healy agreed to investigate the matter.
Correspondence
Items deferred from Board Agenda 11th December 2002
Code of Practice for Governance of State Bodies
It was agreed that a workshop for the Board Members might be organised on this subject. Mr Kelly informed the Board that he expects the IPA / CIPSA publication On Board a Guide to Members of State Bodies in Ireland, will be available to Board members at the next meeting. It was decided to defer the review of the Internal Audit Charter to the February Board meeting.
Minutes of Finance Committee 5th November 2002
The Minutes were noted.
CEOs Report November & December 2002
The Report was noted. The Board approved the signing of a lease for the new clinic in Stillorgan, Co. Dublin. Mr Kelly informed the Board that there had been an 8.2% increase in donations in 2002 compared to 2001.
3. Donor Study Update
Organisational Development and Change
The Chairman welcomed all the Medical Consultants to the meeting. He highlighted a number of the issues raised with him by Consultants over the previous year, including in particular arrangements for consulting them on decisions which affect their work. He also referred to the concerns they expressed in relation to the representation of their views on various aspects of the management of the services and their involvement in decision making throughout the various streams of professional and technical work in the IBTS. The Consultants confirmed these concerns and highlighted their accountability at tribunals of inquiry as an example of the need to review the arrangements for including them in decision making. It was agreed that the individual and collective views of the Consultant staff would be prepared with the help of a facilitator from Communique International. She could also help them to formulate suggestions on how these issues and concerns should be addressed in proposals to reorganise the medical work in the IBTS and its interrelationship with other services. The implications of any changes for contracts or for existing working and reporting arrangements will be identified and dealt with on an individual basis. The implications of the recommendations in the report of the International panel on testing will also be considered as part of this review. Following clarification of various points raised by Board members, the NMD and the Consultants, it was agreed that the facilitation process should commence as quickly as possible with the intention of having proposals agreed within three months on requisite changes in the organisation of medical work. A report will be brought to the April meeting by the ACEO.
Report of financial & other implications of the report of the International Panel on Single Site Testing.
Mr A. Kelly briefed the Board on the underlying assumptions used in the report, although he noted that figures had not been received from the Cork Centre to date.
Recommendation No 1
This recommendation is accepted by the Board. The cost implications were discussed and a number of items will be clarified for the February meeting. It was noted that this recommendation will have the most significant financial implications for the IBTS and the DOH&C and accordingly would form the most significant part of the report to the Minister.
Recommendation No. 2
Mr Kelly outlined the questions arising from the decision with regard to Recommendation No. 2. It was noted that the majority of the staff at the Cork Centre felt that the recommendations should be implemented in full and that the Cork Centre should be on an equal footing in every respect to the Dublin Centre.
The Dublin staff felt that a change in management structure, acceptable to all centres would be required. It was agreed that Executive Management should be free from day to day operational responsibility of the Dublin and Cork centres.
Recommendation No. 3
It was noted that Recommendation 3 leads on from Recommendation 2 and is part of the overall organisational development process. Mr Kelly will revert to the Board at the April meeting on a proposed structure, taking into account the decision of the Board that there should be two testing centres.
Recommendation No. 4
It was felt that this recommendation was a matter for the Minister for Health & Children.
Recommendation No. 5
The Cork design brief is nearing completion and should be available for the Board to sign off at the next meeting.
Recommendation No. 6
It was agreed that the National Quality Assurance Manager would give a presentation to the Board at the March 2003 meeting to assist it to decide on the most appropriate quality systems for the IBTS.
Recommendation No. 7
Implementation of Progesa is progressing according to schedule and this recommendation will be fully implemented within a matter of months.
Recommendation No. 8
The Board accepted the strategy outlined in this recommendation. It was also agreed that collaboration with other bodies should not be limited to one University.
Recommendation No. 9
The NMD noted that countries in the EU have different approaches to specialist training in Transfusion Medicine. In Ireland however it is not recognised as a stand alone specialty. Instead it is seen as a subdivision of haematology. It was suggested that the European approach be reviewed in detail.
Recommendation No. 10
It was agreed that a more systematic reporting on Quality Assurance issues would be made to the Board. It was agreed that there would be quarterly reports to the Board from the NQAM so that the Board can monitor systematically the implementation of this recommendation.
Recommendation No. 11
It was agreed that the recommendations of the Expert Group would be reviewed by the Board itself within a 6-12 month time period.
Mr Kelly agreed to draft a summary of the Boards decisions for the next meeting, as the basis for a report to the Minister for Health & Children, seeking approval and funding where appropriate for implementing certain recommendations. It was suggested that an explanatory note might be attached to this report, outlining how the costing of Grouping, Virology and NAT testing had been derived and the projected costs of Grouping, Virology and NAT testing under Dual Site testing and Single Site testing (including clarification of what costs were included in the summary figures).
9. MAC Meeting September 18th, October 9th, November 13th 2002
Dr Mary Horgan briefed the Board on the MAC meetings of September, October, and November 2002.
A vCJD workshop has been organised for March 28th 2003.
Dr. Cees Van der Poel and Dr William Murphy briefed the Board on the situation with regard to the West Nile Virus. It was noted that testing will commence in the USA for this virus.
10. A.O.B.
It was confirmed that Ms Valerie Mannix would continue to serve on the Board committees she had served on, prior to her re-appointment to the Board in October 2002.
Concern was expressed by Board members, that an incorrect interpretation could be made from a recent article in a Sunday Newspaper, regarding the Boards response to the Recommendations of the Expert Group. It was agreed that the matter would be best dealt with in a press statement, when the Board has formulated its decision at the February meeting and has submitted its proposals to the Minister for Health & Children for approval and funding.
The date of the next meeting has yet to be confirmed.
Signed:________________________ Date:______________________
