8th February 2006 - Board Minutes
Minutes of the Meeting of the Board of the Irish Blood Transfusion Serviceheld on Wednesday 8th February 2006 at 2pmin the Boardroom, National Blood Centre, James's Street, Dublin 8
Present: Ms M McGrath (Chairperson)
Dr.Melanie Cotter
Mr.SeanWyse
Mr. David Lowe
Mr. Mark Moran
Mr. David Keenan
Dr. Mary Cahill
Apologies: Ms. Jane OBrien
Dr. Liz Keane
Dr. Mary Horgan
Mr.Tony McNamara
In Attendance: Mr. Andrew Kelly (CE)
Dr. William Murphy (NMD)
Mr. Jim Shanahan (SEO)
Minutes of Meeting11th January 2006
The minutes of the Board meeting held on Wednesday 11th January 2006, were adopted, on the proposal of Mr M Moran, seconded by Mr S Wyse and were signed by the Chairperson, subject to agreed amendments.
Matters Arising
The CE reported that there were no significant financial implications for the organisation from the proposal that St. Jamess Hospital become the national centre for the distribution of blood products as they already receive 90% of our issues. Also, at a meeting between the DOH&C, the CE and the Director of Finance the Department undertook to raise the issue of the timing of payments, with the HSE, to ensure that the timing issue does not arise in the future.
3. Chief Executives Report
The CE report was noted.
The CE presented a new format of reports to assist the Board in monitoring performance on blood collection and the recruitment of new donors. There was a discussion on these and on the provision of a Stock Projections Report that would provide the Board with visibility on our ability to meet demands from hospitals.
The CE informed the meeting that the HR Director would leave the organisation on the 16th February 2006. The Boardunanimously agreed that the HR Director had made a significant contribution to the development of the HR function and policies and would be a great loss to the organisation.
The CE informed the meeting that the NMD and he will meet Professor Brendan Drumm of the HSE on 14th March 2006 when Professor Drumm visits the NBC.
Following discussion on the CE and Director of Finances meeting with the DOH&C regarding the funding of the Hepatitis C lookback programmes it was agreed that the CE would write to Mr Liam Woods, National Director of Finance HSE, informing him of the meeting with the DOH&C and the need for us to receive monies in 2006 to fund these on-going programmes, which were previously funded by the DOH&C.
Following sanctioning from the DOH&C the Board approved a resolution to the effect:
That the Board accepts the offer of the facility amounting to ¬1,000,000 made by Allied Irish Banks, plc (the Bank) to the Board, subject to the terms and conditions referred to in the letter of sanction dated 02/02/2006, addressed by the Bank to the Board, and that Ms Maura McGrath is hereby authorised to sign on behalf of the Board the letter of sanction and such other authorities, documents and instructions that the Bank shall require to be signed by the Board in connection with the facility.
The CE presented a proposed Agenda of Presentations to be made to the Board for 2006.
The Chairperson welcomed this and asked each Board Member to consider, for the March Meeting, individuals and/or topics on which presentations should be made to the Board during the year to assist in the discharge of their governance duties. The Chairperson would also welcome suggestions on the Agenda for an Away Day for the Board.
CorkCentre
The Chairperson informed the meeting that she had received an acknowledgement of her letter to the Tánaiste on 31st January, 2006 and it is hoped that a meeting will be confirmed in the near future.
The composition of the group to meet with the Tánaiste and her officials was agreed. This group will hold a discussion in preparation for this meeting.
The NMD presented a paper to the Boardon the Proposal to Build and Maintain a Stem Cell Production Facility by the IBTS in association with UCC. He informed the meeting that the development of the facility would only make sense in conjunction with the adoption of a National Strategy on stem cell therapies. He also informed the Board that he had had discussions with the Health Research Board on a National Strategy.
A number of amendments to the document were suggested and noted by the NMD for inclusion. It was also suggested that consideration be given to a partnership approach for funding the development and in particular that Science Foundation Irelandshould be approached by the NMD to discuss funding.
Allocation of Financial Resources
There was no update on the allocation of funds to the four projects approved by the Board.
6. Minutes of MAC Meeting8th December 2005
The Minutes of the MAC Meeting 8th December 2005 were noted.
There was a discussion on the continuing threat of vCJD, the development of screening tests and the implementation of such tests by the IBTS It was agreed that the NMD should advise the Board on the strategy to adopt in advance of pressure on the IBTS to implement tests.
The NMD updated the meeting on the prion removal filter trials and advised the Boardthat results should be available by Summer 2006. It was agreed that the NMD would include the financial implications of the successful outcome of the trials and the vCJD strategy referred to above in a presentation to the Boardat the May meeting.
The NMD informed the meeting that there are concerns over the current composition and effectiveness of the CJD Advisory Committee. This is an extremely important committee in supporting the IBTS in dealing with the on-going threat to our service presented by vCJD. The NMD has already raised his concerns in a letter to the Chief Medical Officer of the DOH&C and will raise it at his meeting with Kevin Kelleher, Population Health HSE on 14th February 2006.
Minutes of Finance Committee Meeting23rd November 2005
The minutes of the Finance Committee Meeting 23rd November 2005 were noted.
The CE presented to the Board a paper on a Balanced Scoresheet and KPIs. It was recognised that the production of this paper was a positive step forward and would prove a valuable tool in the assessment of the performance of the CE, by the Board, on a quarterly basis. The CE clarified that this was an abridged Balanced Scoresheet to the version being used by the CE and the BRG members to monitor performance of each functional area. It is important that the Balanced Scoresheet reflects activity and contains specific proactive actions that are measurable and deliverable.
The CE is to provide:
(i) a revised Balanced Scoresheet, based on the discussions, and
(ii) revised KPIs; that include an indicator of performance on costs
which will be considered by the Finance Committee before presentation to the Board.
8. Minutes of the Audit Committee Meeting14th September 2005
The Minutes of the Audit Committee Meeting14th September 2005were noted.
Mr D Keenan noted that the Internal Auditor was moving to another position in the organisation and that this would be a big loss to the internal audit function.
The Audit Committee will be examining the clinical risk register in the period to March/April 2006.
It was recognised that in the interests of good governance that a Board Manual be produced to assist the Board Members in the conduct of board business and the discharge of their responsibilities as individual Board Members. The Chairperson undertook to address this with the CE.
9. Correspondence
The correspondence was noted.
10. Date and Venue of Next Meeting
The next meeting of the Board will take place in the NBC onWednesday 15 March 2006 at 2pm.
There are problems with the dates of the April and May Board Meetings. The Secretary will contact each Member with proposed dates for these meetings.
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