11th December 2007 - Board Minutes

Minutes of the Meeting of theBoard of the Irish Blood Transfusion Service held on Tuesday 11^th December 2007at 2.00 pmin the Boardroom, National Blood Centre, James's Street,Dublin 8

Present:                                

MsMaura McGrath(Chairperson)

Dr Mary Cahill

Ms. Margaret Mullett

Dr Robert Landers

Mr David Lowe

Mr Gerry ODwyer

Dr Margaret Murray

Mr Sean Wyse

Dr Cees Van Der Poel

Mr Mark Moran

Mr David Keenan

Apologies:                              Ms Jane OBrien

Also in attendance:               Mr. Andrew Kelly, Chief Executive

Dr William Murphy, National Medical Director

Mirenda ODonovan, Secretary to theBoard

1.                 Minutes of the meeting of  21^st November 2007

The minutes of the meeting of the Board of 21^st November 2007 were agreed subject to amendment and were proposed by Mr David Lowe and seconded by Mr Sean Wyse.

2.                 Matters arising

Progesa stabilisation project

A certificate has been received from MAK, confirming that the system can be transferred successfully to new hardware.  MAK personnel are effecting the changeover through remote access.

IMB

The IMB expect to issue a tissue establishment license to the IBTS shortly. 

Legal case

The CE advised the Board on a legal case.

BOSS

The implementation of this project has commenced and personnel from NYBC were on site last week. 

NHO

The CE has written to the DOH&C regarding the NHO, following up on the meeting between the IMB, the DOH&C and the IBTS. There are no further developments.

Audit & Compliance Committee

The CE is seeking an external nominee for the newly reconstituted Audit & Compliance Committee.

3.         Chief Executives Report

Blood Supply

The blood supply has been very tight throughout November, with just 2-3 days supply in the bank on average.  The annual Christmas campaign commenced on 2^nd December.  This year, the target is to collect 15,000 donations before Christmas, it will be necessary to meet this target to maintain activities over the Christmas/New Year period.

IMB

An inspection was carried out by the IMB of the Cork Centre last week and they are currently inspecting the NBC.  There were no critical, two major deficiencies and five minor issues raised at the Cork Centre.  The project to put in place a traceability system for the hospitals where the IBTS provides cross match services, is not yet completed. 

HR Issues

Seven issues have been referred to the Labour Courtfor adjudication.  The IBTS is seeking an early date for a hearing.

Donation Process Review

The Director of Operations and the HR Director have been visiting all centres, presenting phase II to the staff.  A meeting with AGEMO is scheduled for mid January to progress phase II.

Finance

The CE has written to the Director of Finance, HSE informing him of the 4% increase on blood, components and tests in 2008.

4.           Presentation by the IT & Facilities Manager

The IT & Facilities Manager made a presentation on the current status of various IT & Facilities projects and activities scheduled into 2008.   The Board requested that the IT manager would prepare a paper for the Board, giving an overview of the IT department, its resources, staffing etc.  It was also agreed that the IT Risk Register would be a standing item on the agenda for the Audit & Compliance Committee.  The Board thanked the IT & Facilities Manager for his detailed and informative presentation.

5.           Profile of the IBTS

The Director of Operations made a presentation on the IBTS profile to the Board.  There were a number of suggestions from the Board on activities and events that could increase the IBTS profile.  It was agreed that the Board would return to this item as part of the agenda for the next away day.  It was also agreed that a sub-group of the Board and management would convene to look at this issue further.  The Board thanked the Director of Operations for his detailed and informative presentation.

6.          Minutes of the Finance Committee meeting23^rd October 2007

These were noted.

7.           Minutes of the MAC meeting16th October 2007

The NHO was discussed.  It was agreed to look at the current medical structure and identify the gaps.  There are two vacant medical posts.  It was agreed by the Board that the CE & NMD would look at this issue and draft a report with recommendations for the Board.

There was some discussion about Chikungunya disease and the absence of any mosquito surveillance in Ireland.  There were 3 new cases of vCJD confirmed in the UK in 2007 so far.  This is the lowest annual figure since the disease first emerged.  There has also been some progress on a test for vCJD, but it is in the very early stages of development.

In relation to prion filters, no adverse events have been reported in the study participants at CUH.

The IMB report on tissue banking was also reviewed.

8.           CorkCentre

The sub-group of the Board and the CE met the Minister on 23^rd November.  The Chairperson briefed the Board on the meeting.  There was a discussion on what information to present to the DoH&C for input to the memorandum. It was agreed that it should be brief but contain the most salient points and be forwarded in the coming days.

9.           Correspondence

     The correspondence was noted.

10.       Date of next meeting

Dates for meetings in 2008 were agreed. The next meeting of the Board will take place at 2pm on Tuesday 15^th January 2008 at the NBC.

Signed:_______________________              Date:_______________