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.

 

  1. 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. 

  1. 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.

  1. 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.

  1. 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.

  1. 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.

  1. 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.

  1. 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.

  1. 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.

  1. Date of next meeting

 

      The next meeting of the Board will be held on Tuesday 20th July at the National      Blood Centre.

Signed:____________________                          Date: __________________