15th June 2010 - Board Minutes
Minutes of the Meeting of theBoardof the Irish Blood Transfusion Service held onTuesday 15th June 2010at1.30pmin the Barry room,CorkCentre, St Finbarr’s Hospital,Cork.
Present: Ms. Katharine Bulbulia (Chairperson)
Mr. David Lowe
Ms. Jane O’Brien
Ms. Ann Horan
Dr. Mary Cahill
Ms.SineadNi Mhaille
Mr.Sean Wyse
Dr. Paolo Rebulla
Mr.Mark Moran
Via Audio-link : Ms. Marie Keane
Apologies: Dr.PaulBrowne
Mr. David Keenan
Also in attendance: Mr. Andrew Kelly, Chief Executive
Dr. William Murphy, Medical & Scientific Director
Ms. Mirenda O’Donovan, Secretary to theBoard
The Chairperson welcomed Dr. Paolo Rebulla to his first Board meeting.
- Minutes of the Meeting of theBoardonTuesday 18th May 2010
The Minutes of the meeting of the Board on Tuesday 18th May were agreed subject to amendment.
- Matters arising
Prion Filters
The CE has appointed Dr. Murphy and Dr. O’Riordan to the HIQA expert group evaluating prion filters.
CorkLaboratories
The CE confirmed that the volume of crossmatch work in the Diagnostics Laboratory in the Cork Centre had dropped by about 50% since the transfer of blood banking to MUH. The reference serological work is continuing.
Price reduction
The backdating of a reduction in price of blood products has been revised to 1st June.
Recombinants
The IBTS has been informed that SJH and OLCHC will purchase Factor VII directly from the supplier. This will reduce IBTS income by €800,000 in a full year. It was agreed that the CE prepare a paper for the Board outlining the funding model and the implications of changes taking place outside of IBTS control. It was noted that the Finance Committee would also examine this issue at their next meeting.
Expert Group on Hepatitis C
Ms. Jane O’Brien briefed the Board on a recent meeting of the Expert Group on Hepatitis C, which was chaired by the Chief Medical Officer of the DOH&C. It was agreed to focus efforts on high risk groups and to look at closing out the work at another meeting in September.
Sub-Committee on research strategy
Dr. Cahill confirmed that the M&SD has completed the work on preparing the call for submissions. The call for bids would be sent out before the end of June. It was noted that another expert on stem cell research would be helpful for the assessment committee. Dr. Rebulla agreed to give this consideration and make some suggestions.
Donor Awards Ceremony
Ms. Ann Horan noted the success of the Donor Awards Ceremony in Dublin on Sunday 13th June and proposed a vote of thanks from the Board to everyone involved in organising the evening. Ms. Jane O’Brien also noted the success of the Donor Awards Ceremony in Kells, which she had attended.
3. Chief Executive’s Report
Blood supply
The blood supply is very strong at the moment. The metrics for the blood supply vary significantly from centre to centre, where the throughput of donors makes it very difficult to achieve the target of 1.5. Considerable reorganisation of some clinics is on the agenda. Split clinics are being phased out and 3 hour sessions will become standard to increase throughput.
Finance
The budget has been very positive for the first 5 months of the year. Staff costs are below budget and income for May is positive due to an increase in the sale of blood components and products.
The IBTS has successfully appealed a decision by the Revenue Commissioners to apply VAT to the contingency testing service with the SNBTS. This resulted in a refund of €250,000. The IBTS has also changed its PHI supplier and a sum has been received from AON as part of the reconciliation of the scheme.
Quality
The IMB spent 5 days in the Cork Centre. They identified 4 other deficiencies in their inspection.
Donor Grouping
The last contingency test with the SNBTS is to take place this week. It is on schedule to go live on 5th July.
IT
Global Medical made a presentation at the NBC on their system and developments.
DOH&C
The CE and the M&SD met the DOH&C to discuss vCJD.
NHO
The CE has received correspondence regarding the NHO and the mandatory reporting requirement under the Directive.
- CorkCentre
An advertisement will be published in the Irish Examiner seeking expressions of interest in the submission of a sealed bid for a site or building meeting the IBTS requirements in Cork. The development control plan for CUH is due to be completed by end of June/early July. The HSE South has been informed that the advertisement will be in the papers.
- Marketing Initiatives
The Marketing Executive made a presentation to the Board on recent initiatives and marketing campaigns, including facebook, World Blood Donor Day, Vodafone partnership and the summer donor recruitment campaign. There were a number of suggestions from Board members in relation to donor awards and recognition. The Chairperson thanked the Marketing Executive on behalf of the Board for her detailed and informative presentation and congratulated her on the recent photographs marking World Blood Donor Day.
- Pension Scheme
The Chief Executive briefed the Board on the contents of senior counsel opinion received on the pension scheme. The CE had written to the Trustees informing them that the Board was seeking advice from senior counsel. The Trustees have written back looking for a response from the Board within 5 working days of the meeting.
It was noted that the hearing of the Central Bank judicial review case commences on 17th June. It was agreed that the Chairperson would form a small group from the Board and the Executive to progress the issue and that the Board would reconvene if necessary to approve a course of action. It was also agreed to seek a meeting with the senior counsel to discuss some aspects of his opinion.
- Minutes of the MAC31st March 2010
The MAC was still waiting for an update on the vCJD Advisory Committee. The likelihood of a test in the near future had receded, which increases the importance of a clear policy position on prion filtration. The platelets usage report was discussed.
The Board approved the appointment of Dr. Paolo Rebulla to the Medical Advisory Committee.
- Audit & Compliance Committee13th April 2010
The A&C Committee also met the C&AG last week. The presentation of data on the QA system was still under review. The risk registers fall under the remit of the A&C Committee, however it was agreed that the Clinical Risk Register would be managed by the MAC in future. Nothing of significance was raised by the C&AG, there is a technical accounting issue regarding the historic liability in the pension scheme and how this is recorded. A taxi usage policy is to be prepared by September.
- Platelets usage report
The Chair of MAC said that the MAC was anxious that the Board would follow up on the recommendations of the report and return to it before the end of the year. The M&SD explained the background to the report and went through the recommendations. Guidelines on platelets usage are to be drafted by the M&SD by the year end. The publication of the guidelines will then be followed by a process of clinical audit to embed the guidelines.
Dr. Rebulla pointed out that a comparison with platelets usage in Italy would support the findings of the report that platelets usage in Ireland was excessive. He also suggested that thresholds for transfusion of platelets should also be considered for further assessments. The Board agreed to consider the report further and progress with the guidelines.
The Chair recorded a vote of thanks to Dr. Power and her team for facilitating the meeting.
- Date of next meeting
The next meeting of the Board will be held on Tuesday 20th July at the National Blood Centre.
Signed:____________________ Date: __________________
