20th July 2010 - Board Minutes

Minutes of the Meeting of theBoardof the Irish Blood Transfusion Service held onTuesday 20th July 2010at2.00pmin theBoardroom, National Blood Centre, James’s Street,Dublin8.

 

Present:                                 Ms. Katharine Bulbulia (Chairperson)

                                                Mr. David Lowe 

Ms. Jane O’Brien

Ms. Ann Horan

Ms.SineadNi Mhaille

Mr.Sean Wyse

Dr. Paolo Rebulla

Mr. David Keenan

                                                Ms. Marie Keane

 

Apologies:                              Dr.PaulBrowne

Dr. Mary Cahill  

MrMark Moran

                                                                                               

Also in attendance:               Mr. Andrew Kelly, Chief Executive

Dr. William Murphy, Medical & Scientific Director

Ms. Mirenda O’Donovan, Secretary to theBoard

 

 

  1. Minutes of the Meeting of theBoardonTuesday 15th June  2010

The minutes were agreed without amendment.

  1. Matters arising

 

Corklaboratories

The HSE South have announced that they will close St Mary’s Orthopaedic in Cork in quarter one 2011, this will require the transfer of their crossmatch work to the Mercy.  This leaves very little work in the Cork Centre for the crossmatch laboratory.

Research Development

The call for research bids has been issued with a closing date of mid-September. Dr Rebulla has provided the name of an expert on stem cell research, Dr Bruno Peault, who will be part of the group to review the research submissions.

  1. Chief Executive’s Report

Blood supply

The blood supply is very positive at the moment, with 7 days O positive and 6 days O negative stock in the bank. 

 

CrokeParkAgreement

A briefing from the Secretary General of the DOH&C will take place this week.  The CE will be attending.  The implementation body has been established.  The process outlined in the Agreement will be used to deliver the D’Olier Street review.

 

Grouping Consolidation

The consolidation of Grouping in Dublin went live on 5th July.  There have been no significant issues.  The supply of phenotyped blood has increased in Cork and there have been no shortfalls in Dublin arising from this decision.

Strategic Plan

The draft strategic plan was sent to the DOH&C for comment and they have responded today.

 

Awards Ceremony

There is a donor awards ceremony in Cork on Sunday 12th September.

 

Gala Concert

The Gala Concert this year will take place on 16th October in the National Concert Hall.

 

ICT

The Blood banking system requires to be upgraded.  This is a major project which will require a detailed proposal to be brought forward by the EMT.  The IBTS will need to either upgrade the existing system or replace it with a new one.

 

National SOPs

722 completed to date.  The target is 815 by year end.  Testing SOPs taking longer than expected, but it is expected that the target will be met.

 

Health and Safety

There have been four reportable incidents so far this year. The target for 2010 is that there should be no more than 8.  A bug cabinet explosion in Cork Centre was as a result of incorrect gas delivery.  Full investigation has taken place and corrective measures have been implemented.

Platelets usage

Reduction of 3% so far – unlikely to meet year end target of 5% Delay in commencing optimisation programme has impacted on this.  The secondment of the M&SD from the IBTS to rum this programme in the HSE has been agreed, but the post has not yet been advertised.

  1. CorkCentre

The Draft development control plan for CUH has not yet been agreed, but this should be concluded in the next 2/3 weeks.  27 responses received of sites/buildings under sealed bid have been reviewed.  There are 7 possible options.  CUH have also proposed a site at the back of the campus.  The Board requested a paper for the September meeting with yes/no options for consideration.

  1. Approval of Financial Statements

The Comptroller and Auditor General has not closed out the audit, or issued a management letter, so the accounts are not yet ready for sign off by the Board.  The issues outstanding appear to be accounting for the levy, the liability attaching from monies outstanding that have been agreed between the Actuary and the Trustees of the Pension Scheme and a note on contingent liabilities for Hepatitis C cases. 

The Director of Finance presented the draft Financial Statements for 2009 to the Board and a financial update for the first 6 months of 2010.  The Chairperson thanked the Finance Director and his team for the work being carried out in reducing and controlling costs.  The IBTS dependency on the resale of blood products was noted in light of the decision by SJH and OLCHC to buy Factor VII directly from the manufacturer. 

It was further noted that the aim would be to reduce the margin to 10% in 2011, however this would mean that any cost savings would be absorbed by this reduction and would disproportionately benefit one hospital.  

The CE and the Chairman of the Finance Committee thanked the Finance Director and his team for their efforts in reducing costs.

  1. Pension Scheme

The Chairperson, the CE and the Chairman of the Finance Committee met Senior Counsel to get clarification on a number of issues raised by the Board from his opinion.  It was agreed that the Board would wait to see the judgment in the UNITE JR case. It was agreed that the Chairperson, the CE and the Chairman of the Finance Committee would liaise over the coming weeks regarding any developments. It was agreed that the Chairperson would write to the Minister for Health and Children stating that the IBTS would be seeking a meeting in early September to explore how the issues surrounding the pension scheme can be resolved.

  1. Minutes of the MAC– 18th May 2010

The minutes were taken as read.  A proposed change from the DOH&C to the reporting arrangements of the NHO as outlined in the Statutory Instrument was discussed.

It was confirmed that a test for vCJD is no longer likely for the foreseeable future.

  1. Finance Committee– 11th May 2010

The minutes were taken as read.  The return of funds from Aon was noted.  The Finance Director had been asked to undertake a review of large contracts, in terms of expiry date and expenditure and this had been completed.  Metrics for benchmarking are still being devised.  An activity based costing exercise is due to commence shortly.  Dr Rebulla offered to provide some information on the use of blood and platelets in Italy. 

  1. Correspondence

 

  1. Date of next meeting

It was agreed to change the date of the Board meeting in September to Monday 13th September at2pm.  It was agreed to change the date of the December Board meeting to Tuesday 14th December.   

Signed:____________________                                      Date:_________________