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)
Professor Chris Brook PSM – State and Territory Representative (Large Jurisdiction)
Associate Professor Alison Street AO – Public Health Expert
Mr Geoffrey Bartle – Community Representative

Outgoing members
Ms Patti Warn – Community Representative
Mr Mark Cormack – Australian Government Representative

NBA Board Members (L to R) Professor Chris Brook PSM, Mr Paul Bedbrook, Ms Gayle Ginnane (Chair), Mr Geoff Bartle, Professor Lyn Beazley AO and Associate Professor Alison Street AO.

2017-18 year in review

The NBA Board met four times in 2017-18 and considered and provided advice to the Chief Executive and NBA executive across a range of priority business areas including:

• CSL Behring contract negotiation
• haemovigilance issues
• extended half-life (EHL) blood clotting factor products
• update to the National Blood Supply Contingency Plan (NBSCP) and emergency simulation exercise
• review of the Blood Service Output Based Funding Model (OBFM) policy parameters
• National Safety and Quality Health Service (NSQHS) revised Standard 7.

As in previous years, stakeholder engagement continued to be an area of interest for the Board. Key stakeholder engagements in 2017-18 involved presentations from the Blood Service on its activities and performance as well as presentations from Professor John Rasko AO and Associate Professor Huyen Tran on advances with potential treatments for bleeding disorders. The Chair and NBA Chief Executive also met with the Blood Service Board in May 2018.

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:

• NSP&B issues
• the NBA's Corporate Plan, Scorecard reporting, future priorities and budget issues
• National Blood Product Management Improvement Strategy 2018-22
• intravenous immunoglobulin (Ig) governance performance improvement, criteria and implementation of BloodSTAR
• the NBA's international engagement
• product utilisation reviews and NBA legislative powers.

In 2017-18 the NBA Board also held a joint meeting with the Blood Service Board to discuss issues of mutual interest. These included:

• strategic independence for Australian plasma
• haemovigilance and patient blood management (PBM)
• Ig Governance and BloodSTAR
• complementary research and development programs.

2018-19 priorities

The NBA's Corporate Plan core focus is to ensure the safe, secure and sustainable supply of blood and blood products in Australia, will be an ongoing area of interest for the NBA Board. Over the next twelve months the Board expects to provide input across the issues relating to the Authority's program, including:

• national supply and funding issues
• issues relating to the development of new blood sector products
• Ig Governance arrangements
• implementation of systems to support the work of the NBA
• development and implementation of national guidelines.

I would like to congratulate Mr Geoffrey Bartle on his appointment to the NBA Board as the community representative. Geoff brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise which is well suited to the important work of the NBA Board. I take this opportunity to thank the previous Australian Government and community representatives on the Board, Mr Mark Cormack and Ms Patti Warn, for their support and vital contributions on the Board during their tenure.

I am pleased to have once again presided as Chair of the NBA Board over the last twelve months and thank my fellow members for their input on all strategic matters considered throughout the year. The Board looks forward to further contributing to the important work of the NBA in the year ahead and providing support and expert advice to the Chief Executive and the NBA executive as required.

Finally, on behalf of the Board, I wish to acknowledge the hard work of all the NBA staff in successfully delivering the Authority's program in 2017-18 and I commend them for their professionalism, expertise and high level of service.

Gayle Ginnane
Chair
National Blood Authority Board

Joint Board Meeting Dinner National Blood Authority and the Australian Red Cross Blood Service – August 2017.

Overseas delegations visiting the NBA in 2017-18 were the Korean Red Cross in June 2018 and in July 2017 the NBA hosted a delegation comprising Indonesian government and pharmaceutical representatives.

Korean Red Cross delegation visit to the NBA – June 2018 L to R: Eun Jung Lee, Ms Sandra Russell NBA, Ms Leia Earnshaw NBA, Prof James Isbister NBA PBM Steering Committee Chair, Prof Tae Hyun Um (delegate), Myung Han Kim (delegate), Donna Cassoni, NBA and Byung Ju Lee (delegate).

Indonesian government and pharmaceutical representatives at the National Blood Authority in July 2017.