15th May 2007 - Board Minutes

Minutes of the Meeting of the Board of the Irish Blood Transfusion Service held on Tuesday 15th May 2007 at 2.00 pm in the Boardroom, National Blood Centre, James's Street, Dublin 8

Present:                                

MsMaura McGrath(Chairperson)

Mr. Sean Wyse

Dr Mary Cahill

Ms. Margaret Mullett

Dr Robert Landers

Mr David Lowe

MrMark Moran

Mr Gerry ODwyer

 

Apologies:                              Dr Margaret Murray

                                                DrCees Van Der Poel

Mr David Keenan

                                                Ms Jane OBrien

 

Also in attendance:               Mr. Andrew Kelly, Chief Executive

Dr William Murphy, National Medical Director

Ms. Mirenda ODonovan, Secretary to theBoard

  1. Minutes of the meeting of19th April 2007

The Minutes of the meeting of Board of 19th April were agreed subject to amendment, proposed by Dr Mary Cahill and seconded by Mr David Lowe.

  1. Matters arising

National Haemovigilance Office 

A meeting had been arranged between the IBTS, the IMB and the DOH&C for Thursday 17th May, however, the DOH&C had deferred that meeting, until the DOH&C and the IMB had reviewed their legal advice.  It was agreed that the CE would pursue a new date for this meeting.

eProgesa

The CE reported that KPMG had submitted a proposal to review the implementation of eProgesa but because of the value of the quotation the CE was seeking quotations from two more companies.  A number of questions have been submitted by the C&AG Office in relation to the decision and are being dealt with.

MAC reviewing the IMB Reports

It was agreed that the CE would meet the Chair of the MAC to agree a mechanism to facilitate MAC review of medical issues raised by the IMB.

  1. Chief Executives Report

 

Blood Supply

There was an increase in issues of blood in April of approximately 1,000 units more than the same month last year.  This has put some pressure on the blood supply, but corrective measures are being taken to address this.  

IMB Inspection

The IMB will carry out a tissue inspection in the NBC at the end of June. This will be the first inspection carried out at the NBC as a Tissue Establishment.

HR Issues

Discussions with the unions on the setting up of an IR Forum are ongoing. Work on revised rosters in components has been completed and briefings have been arranged for all staff affected.

Schedule of matters reserved for the Board

This was recirculated after it had been amended by the Board.  The Chairperson suggested that the provision of an adequate and safe supply of blood and blood components also be included on the schedule.  A draft schedule of matters reserved for the Executive was agreed by the Board subject to some amendments.

Legal Matters

The CE briefed the Board on two legal cases.

CUMH

The CE had received a letter from the Deputy General Manager of CUH seeking an extension to the end of August/September of the interim arrangements put in place to provide blood banking services to CUMH.  The current agreement specifies a 3 month period to 23rd June 2007.  The next monthly meeting in Cork is scheduled for 21st May. 

  1. CorkCentre

 

No positive update on the Cork Centre.  The Department of Health and Children have confirmed that this matter is on the Ministers agenda. 

  1. Minutes of Audit Committee Meeting14th March 2007

The minutes of the Audit Committee meeting were noted.

  1. Minutes of the MAC Meeting20th March 2007

The minutes of the MAC meeting were noted the Board thanked the NHO for all the work that went into the EHN Seminar in Dublin Castle in February. 

  1. Presentation on Dr Strengers report by the Director of the NHO

The Director of the National Haemovigilance Office made a presentation to the Board on the report evaluating the NHO prepared by Dr Strengers for the Department of Health and Children.  The Board thanked her for her detailed and informative presentation.

  1. Key Performance Indicators for the MAC

 

The Chair of the MAC reported to the Board on the eight key performance indicators identified by the MAC.  These are the provision of advice to the Board on policy issues, review reports on best practice in relevant areas, production of an annual report, review of emerging infections, benchmarking for the MAC, review of technologies, review of inspection reports and review of progress on headline policy issues.

It was agreed that this was a very positive step and that once the clinical risk register is completed, this could be linked into the clinical quality indicators.

The Board agreed to change the date of the July meeting to Friday 27th July 2007. 

The next meeting of the Board will be held on Tuesday 19th June at2.00pm.

Signed:____________________                                            Date:______________