18th September 2007 - Board Minutes

Minutes of the Meeting of the Board of the Irish Blood Transfusion Service held on Tuesday 18th September at 2.00 pm in 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

MrMark Moran

Apologies:                              Mr David Keenan

                                                Ms Jane OBrien

Also in attendance:               Mr. Andrew Kelly, Chief Executive

Dr William Murphy, National Medical Director

Ms. Patricia McNally, Acting Secretary to theBoard

The Chairperson opened the meeting by thanking Mr. D. Lowe for Chairing the July Board meeting in her absence.  She also congratulated Mr. S. Wyse on his recent retirement and Dr. van der Poel whose daughter got married recently.

Mr. ODwyer congratulated the Donor Services staff on the success of the Donor Awards Ceremony in Cork which he had attended.  The Chairperson noted that the Launch for Blood For Life Week had taken place on Monday 17^th September in the RHA, Ely Placeand this was a very well organised launch.  She asked the CE to convey her thanks and congratulations to all involved in the launch and wished the IBTS every success with Blood For Life Week 2007.

1.                 Minutes of the meeting of27^th July 2007

The Minutes of the meeting of Board of 27^th July 2007 were agreed, subject to amendment and proposed by Dr. M. Cahill and seconded by Dr. M. Murray.

2.                 Matters arising

Progesa

The CE confirmed that the stabilisation project had commenced.

NHO

A meeting between the DOH&C and IMB has been scheduled for Monday 1^st October 2007.  The CE noted that this meeting would only take place if the DOH&C had received legal advice on the issue.

Tissue Inspection

The IMB report on the Tissue Inspection had been received on Monday 17^th September 2007 and the Director of Quality is reviewing the report for accuracy.

Pensions

A letter had been received from the Unions in relation to a meeting regarding the proposed changes to the pension scheme. The CE confirmed that he would be contacting the unions to bring the matter to a resolution.

Appointments

The post of DON has been re-advertised.

Payment to Board Members

The CE confirmed that the Secretary to the Board had investigated other Semi Statebodies that paid their Board Members a fee. He confirmed that there is a precedent for the payment to members who are employed in the public sector. The Board requested the CE to make a submission to the DoH&C to have the payment extended to the four members not included in the original decision.

3.         Chief Executives Report

            The report was noted.

            Blood Supply

The blood supply for July & August had been difficult.  It is hoped that Blood For Life Week will raise the awareness of the need to donate and improve supplies over the coming months.

HR Issues

The Conciliation Conference for the Laboratory Review will take place on 24^th & 25^th September.

Finance

The CE explained the background to the issue of over-charging of hospitals for platelets since January 2007.  He confirmed that the problem had been caused by the introduction of two new products.  He also confirmed that the IBTS had put in place steps to ensure that this problem could not re-occur.

SLAs

The CE noted that two hospitals had referred the SLAto the HSE for advice before signing. The CE agreed to contact the HSE NHO and discuss the issue of SLAs for the supply of blood, blood components and tissue.

4.         Presentation on Human Resources

Mr. Nessan Rickard, Director of Human Resources, made a presentation on Human Resources in the IBTS.  He noted changes since he had made his first presentation to the Board in 2006.  He updated the Board on the current position in relation to the Laboratory Process Review (LPR), Donation Process Review (DPR) and Transport Review (TR).  He outlined the key principles for agreement with laboratory staff in relation to the LPR.  He noted that the IR Forum / Collective Agreement document had been submitted to the Unions and it was hoped that this would be signed off in Quarter 4 of 2007. 

He also outlined the Training and Development strategy 2007 2009.  The issue of the senior management team was noted and a discussion took place regarding the restructuring of management functions in the IBTS. 

The Chairperson thanked Mr. Rickard for a very informative presentation.

5.         Minutes of Audit Committee Meeting14^th June 2007

As Ms. OBrien and Mr. Keenan were not at the meeting it was agreed to defer this item to the October meeting.

6.        CorkCentre

A discussion took place regarding the current position on funding for a new Centre in Cork.  It was agreed that the Chairperson would draft a letter to the Minister for Health & Children requesting clarification on the decision of funding for a new centre in Cork.

7.         Minutes of MAC meeting of19^th June 2007

The minutes of the MAC meeting of 19^th June 2007 were tabled at the meeting and the Chairperson of the MAC updated the Board on issues discussed by the MAC.

8.         Date of the Next Meeting

The date of the next Board meeting is Tuesday 16^th October at 2.00pm

Signed:            _________________              Date___________________