NBA Board and Report

The NBA Board was established under the National Blood Authority Act 2003 to:

• participate in consultations about the performance of the NBA's functions with the Australian Government Minister for Health
• provide advice to the Chief Executive/General Manager about the performance of the NBA's functions
• liaise with governments, suppliers and other stakeholders about matters relating to the
  NBA's functions
• perform such other functions as specified in a written notice given by the Minister to the Chair.

Board Members

Ms Gayle Ginnane - Chair
Mr Paul Bedbrook - Financial Expert
Professor Lyn Beazley AO - State and Territory Representative (small jurisdiction)
Adjunct Professor Chris Brook PSM - State and Territory Representative (large jurisdiction)
Associate Professor Alison Street AO - Public Health Expert
Ms Patti Warn - Community representative
Mr Mark Cormack - Australian Government representative

Outgoing members
Professor George Rubin - Public Health Expert

NBA Board Members (left to right) Chris Brook PSM, Gayle Ginnane (Chair), Alison Street AO, Patti Warn, Paul Bedbrook and Lyn Beazley AO. Inset: Mark Cormack.

2016-17 year in review

The NBA Board met four times in 2016-17 and considered and provided advice to the Chief Executive and NBA executive across a range of priority business areas including:

• blood sector systems and funding
• blood and blood product wastage
• NBA strategies
• plasma and immunoglobulin (Ig) self-sufficiency
• massive transfusion registry for patient blood management (PBM) implementation
• contract management and review issues
• new product developments.

The Board continued its stakeholder engagement program throughout the year. Key stakeholder engagements in 2016-17 involved presentations from CSL Behring and the Blood Service. The Chair and NBA Chief Executive also met with the Blood Service Board in March 2017.

The NBA Board received updates and reporting from the NBA on achievements against strategic and operational planning documents, and provided advice and input for the development of further forward plans. These items included:

• PBM collaborative project with the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care
• Deed of Agreement with the Australian Red Cross Society
• the role of the NBA and key issues in the blood sector
• the NBA's future priorities and planning activities
• PBM Implementation Strategy 2017-21
• Ig governance, criteria and BloodSTAR
• request for information outcome on the potential future arrangements for imported plasma and recombinant products in Australia
• the status of the 2016-17 National Supply Plan and Budget.

2017-18 priorities

It was my pleasure to be re-appointed Chair of the NBA Advisory Board this year along with the reappointments of Adjunct Professor Chris Brook PSM and Mr Mark Cormack. Other appointments to the Board were Associate Professor Alison Street AO and Professor Lyn Beazley AO.

I would like to congratulate my fellow members on their appointments and I look forward to working with the reconstituted NBA Board during my re-appointment as Chair. I continue to be impressed with the wealth of knowledge and the level of expertise across the membership of the Board. It is indeed a pleasure to work with such a distinguished and committed group of experts in their respective fields.

I would also like to thank the outgoing Board member, Professor George Rubin, for his invaluable contributions during his tenure as public health expert.

In the year ahead, my fellow Board members and I look forward to providing advice to the NBA on key aspects of the Authority's work program to further improve national blood arrangements in Australia, including:

• an ongoing commitment to implementing improvements for the appropriate use of blood and blood products
• national risk assessment and management issues
• issues relating to the development of new blood sector products
• immunoglobulin governance arrangements
• advice on new or extended contract arrangements for the supply of blood products
• national guidelines development and implementation
• the development and implementation of systems to support the work of the Authority, including BloodSTAR.

On behalf of the Board, I would like to congratulate Mr John Cahill on his appointment as the Chief Executive of the NBA. I would also like to thank Mr Michael Stone for his leadership and hard work during his tenure as acting General Manager this financial year. The Board looks forward to working with John and the NBA executive into the future.

In closing, on behalf of the Board, I extend my congratulations to the staff of the NBA for their hard work, passion and dedication. They have once again delivered on the Authority's outcomes and they should be proud of their achievements.

Gayle Ginnane
Chair
National Blood Authority Board