September 2009 Board minutes

Minutes of the Meeting of the Board of the Irish Blood Transfusion Service held on Tuesday 15th September 2009 at 2.00pm in the Boardroom, National Blood Centre, James's Street, Dublin 8.

Present:
Mr. Sean Wyse (Acting Chairperson)
Mr. David Lowe 
Ms. Marie Keane 
Ms. Jane O'Brien
Mr David Keenan
Dr Paul Browne
Dr Mary Cahill
Mr Mark Moran
Ms Sinead Ni Mhaille

Apologies:
Dr Cees van der Poel

Also in attendance:
Mr. Andrew Kelly, Chief Executive
Dr. William Murphy, Medical &Scientific Director
Ms Mirenda O'Donovan, Secretary to the Board

It was agreed by the Board that the meeting would be chaired by Mr Sean Wyse. This was proposed by Mr Mark Moran and seconded by Dr Mary Cahill. The Chairman introduced the two new Board members and welcomed them to their first meeting.

1. Minutes of the meeting of the Board on 21st July 2009

The minutes of the meeting of the Board on 21st July 2009 were agreed subject to amendment and proposed by Ms Jane O'Brien and seconded by Ms Marie Keane.

2. Matters arising

SJH
The meeting is due in next two weeks.

Benchmarking
The final report of the benchmarking exercise undertaken by the EBA is not yet available. The CE is pressing for the release of the report at the earliest opportunity.

Insurance Federation
A meeting took place with representatives of the Insurance Industry Federation to discuss the issue of insurance for donors in the event that a vCJD test is introduced. They agreed to consult with their members and revert to the IBTS in the Autumn.

vCJD Advisory Committee
The M&SD met the Chief Medical Officer and he agreed to refer the prion filters to the technology assessment section in HIQA.

3. CE's Report

Blood supply
The blood supply is particularly strong at the moment. Outdating has become an issue due to significant volume of blood in stock. An agreement has been concluded with Beaumont, SJH and the Mater hospitals that they will accept blood greater than 21 days old for stock. This will help greatly in reducing the outdating of blood.

Quality
The IMB carried out a tissue inspection at the end of August. There were 3 "other" deficiencies identified.

DPR Phase II
This has now commenced in the Carlow Centre and will be implemented in full by year end. A Labour Court hearing has been held on the issue of breaks and the recommendation is due in the coming weeks.

MUH Transfer
The transfer of undertaking directive has made this process quite complex. The CE is meeting the CEO of MUH on Thursday next to progress this project and agree a date for the transfer.

Diagnostics Cork Centre
Discussions with HSE South on the reassignment of diagnostics work from the Cork Centre are to commence. This needs to be resolved for the medium term.

Finance
There is a decrease of 4.8% in recombinant products year to date.

Approval was sought from the Board to open accounts with Bank of Ireland on the terms and conditions outlined in the application form for non-commercial bodies. The Board agreed to this proposal and the relevant documentation was signed.

Sale of plasma
It was agreed that a robust document outlining the context of the Board's decision and the measures taken to mitigate the risk be drafted for circulation at the next Board meeting. It was proposed that the monies raised from the sale of plasma be assigned to a particular programme e.g. haemochromatosis programme.

4. Financial Statements

The financial statements for 2008 have not been approved by the Board. It was agreed that the Board would not sign off the statements at this time, because of the liability attaching to the accounts from the significant deficit in the pension scheme. The Board agreed to return to the issue in November and that a qualification explaining the liability would be drafted in the interim.

It was agreed that the publication of the Annual Report, noting that the accounts are in draft could proceed.

5. Presentation on ICT Operations and Future Strategy

The IT Manager made a presentation to the Board on ICT Operations and Future Strategy. The Board thanked the IT Manager for his detailed and informative presentation.

6. Board effectiveness & delivery - review of strategic objectives set in May 2008

It was agreed to defer this item until the next Board meeting. It was agreed that the Chairperson would circulate the collated responses from Board members in advance of the next Board meeting.

7. Strategic Plan

A document was circulated to the Board by the CE proposing key strategic directions for discussion. It was agreed by the Board to review this document and look at it in conjunction with item 6 at the next meeting. It was agreed to set aside dedicated time to provide input for strategy 2010-2012. Dependence on blood products, the Board and external perception and safety and risk were a number of issues raised by the Board for inclusion.

8. Minutes of the MAC Meeting 18th June 2009
- MAC Annual Report

The Board agreed to support an alternate policy for the MAC and that ex-officio members of the Committee were valid for a quorum. It was also agreed that there would be a paper on the agenda for the next Board meeting on membership of the MAC.

The question of insurance cover for donors in the event of a vCJD test being introduced was still unresolved, but is being pursued by the CE. It was noted that the re-establishment of the CJD Advisory Committee is also being pursued by the M&SD.

The Chairperson thanked the Chairperson of the MAC for the Committee's Annual Report.

9. Audit & Compliance Committee Minutes 14th July 2009

The minutes were taken as read. The A&C Committee had met since on 8th September to review a number of additional reports on procurement, travel and subsistence.

10. Finance Committee - 19th May 2009

Minutes were reviewed at the meeting of the Board on 21st July. The cost reductions achieved through negotiations with suppliers will be an important input on the preparation of the budget for 2010.

11. Appointments

The Board approved the following appointments: 
- Director of Finance Joe Campbell to the Pension Scheme Trustees
- Dr Paul Browne, Board Member to the MAC
- Ms Marie Keane, Board Member to the Finance Committee
- Ms Sinead Ni Mhaille, Board Member to the Audit & Compliance Committee 
- Mr Gerry O'Dwyer would continue as Chairman of the Pension Trustees even though he has not been re-appointed to the Board. There is a precedent for this appointment and is important at this time to have continuity on the Board of Trustees.

12. Correspondence

This was noted.

13. Date of next meeting

The next meeting of the Board will take place in the National Blood Centre on Tuesday 20th October at 2pm.