NIPEC/1/2009 Minutes Northern Ireland Practice and Education Council Meeting Wednesday 11 th March 2009 Council Room, Centre House, 79 Chichester Street, Belfast, 2.00 pm Present: In attendance: Secretariat: Mrs M Griffith, Chair Miss F McMurray, Chief Executive Mrs H Baird Professor J Boore Ms T Corey Mrs E Hayes Mrs D McCormick Mrs F McMahon Mrs M O Hare Mrs P Patten Mr M Rea Professor M Bradley, Chief Nursing Officer Miss L Barrowman, Senior Professional Officer Ms B Devine, Senior Professional Officer Ms A Drury, Senior Professional Officer Mrs C McCusker, Senior Professional Officer Dr C McIlrath, Senior Professional Officer Mr E Thom, Head of Corporate Services Mrs D Meleady, Personal Assistant Mrs J Hall, Corporate Services Manager Members of the Public: Ms B Shaw, Midwife Ms L Sampson, Midwife Ms B Manson, Midwife 1.0 APOLOGIES Dr S Magee Dr I McGowan 2.0 CHAIR S BUSINESS Chair welcomed members of the public to the meeting. 2.1 Chair welcomed Miss Frances McMurray to her first Council Meeting as Chief Executive of NIPEC.
2.2 Chair welcomed Ms Brenda Devine (Senior Professional Officer), Dr Carole McIlrath (Senior Professional Officer) and Ms Gemma Prendergast (Personal Secretary) to their first meeting of Council. 2.3 Chair congratulated Mrs H Baird on her appointment to the Audit Committee. 2.4 Chair welcomed Mrs J Hall (Corporate Services Manager) to the meeting. 2.5 Chair updated Council Members on the Accountability Review Meeting which took place on the 9 th February 2009. Chair informed Council Members that it was a positive meeting and confirmed that all business objectives were achieved. 2.6 Chair thanked Mr M Rea for Acting as Chair of the Audit Committee. It was agreed that the process for appointing a Chair to the Audit Committee would be discussed later in the agenda. 2.7 Council noted that an updated version of the Senior Professional Officer Report, Agenda Item 8.1 was tabled together with a copy of a NIPEC Learning Needs Analysis leaflet. 2.8 Chair asked Council Members to check and update the Declaration of Interests/ Register. 2.9 Chair introduced the new format of the agenda. 3.0 MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS MEETING 3.1 After consideration Council approved the minutes of the Council Meeting held on 26 th November 2008 (NIPEC/4/2008) as an accurate record. The minutes were signed by the Chair. 4.0 MATTERS ARISING It was noted that items referring to matters arising would be taken under their individual headings as identified on the agenda. 5.0 CORRESPONDENCE
5.1 Council Members noted correspondence from Michael Ferguson, Central Appointments Unit, dated 20 th January 2009 regarding Public Appointments Disability Survey 2009 which had been circulated in advance of the meeting. Professor M Bradley joined the meeting. 6.0 CONSULTATION ACTIVITY The Chief Executive provided an update on the consultation activity. 7.0 CHIEF EXECUTIVE S REPORT 7.1 NIPEC Corporate Strategy and Business Plan Quarter Four Review of Progress The Chief Executive presented her report to Council. Mr M Rea queried if there would be a more in-depth report regarding the achievement of the business objectives. Council Members were informed that further clarification would be detailed in the Senior Professional Officer Report. Council noted the report from the Chief Executive. 7.2 Communication Activities The Chief Executive presented an update on this paper and highlighted two areas for consideration: Development Framework hits, and Practice and Quality website. Council noted the Chief Executive s update and agreed to consider the utility of the Practice and Quality website at their meeting in June 2009. 8.0 PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES 8.1 Report from Senior Professional Officer Team Miss Barrowman, Senior Professional Officer, presented the report to Council. Mrs Patten asked for further clarification regarding the systematic review of public enquiries. Ms Devine, as one of the lead officers for this initiative, informed Council Members that key issues from the enquiries would be highlighted with the objective of identifying potential work-streams for
NIPEC. Miss Barrowman reminded Council Members that this objective would be fully addressed in next year s Business Plan. Mrs Baird asked for further clarification about the DHSSPS Inter- Professional Education Project. Miss Barrowman informed Council Members that the DHSSPS was leading this project with input from NIPEC. Mrs Baird also requested clarification on the Development of the Regional Programme for Maternity Support Workers. Miss Barrowman indicated the programme would prepare Maternity Support Workers at Band 3 level. Miss Barrowman informed Council Members that work was already taking place in the Southern Trust, which is being used as a basis for development of the programme. It is anticipated the programme would be available by September 2009. Mr Rea asked if the development programme for the Senior Midwifery Team in the Northern Health and Social Care Trust, would be rolled out to other Trusts. Miss Barrowman indicated that NIPEC had been asked to develop the programme for the Northern Trust to meet a specific development requirement. Mrs Patten asked for further clarification on the Child and Adolescent Mental Health project. Mrs McCusker informed Council Members that a Project Plan had been submitted to the Department and a response was anticipated in early April 2009. Professor Boore asked how this piece of work would tie up with the previous joint work carried out by the two Universities and RCN. Mrs McCusker stated that NIPEC would consider all previous work. Miss Barrowman indicated that the project would focus on meeting identified high priority competence areas. Mrs O Hare asked how the implementation of the Student Version of the Development Framework was progressing, adding that it was very important that aspects of the Development Framework were offered to students. Professor Boore informed Council Members that the University of Ulster encouraged students to access the Development Framework in year one and information was included in their study skills sessions. Chair confirmed that the format of the Senior Professional Officer Report was very useful in providing Council Members with an overview of the work being undertaken by NIPEC. Ms Corey asked if target dates could be set against the ongoing work as she would find this very useful given the workload involved. The Chief Executive informed Council Members that a flow chart of activities would be available at the next meeting of Council. Miss Barrowman gave a demonstration of the web link for the DHSSPS Commissioning Cycle for Nursing and Midwifery Education. Chair asked for
congratulations to be passed on to Mr Jamison and Mrs Edgar for developing a professional product. Mrs Baird stated that she thought this was superb work. Professor Boore asked if the web link would be able to reflect new course requirements, in addition to courses previously commissioned. Miss Barrowman informed Council Members that this would come into the next phase when the commission plan is published on the website. Council noted the report from the Senior Professional Officer. 9.0 CORPORATE SERVICES 9.1 Report from the Head of Corporate Services Mr Thom, Head of Corporate Services, presented his report to Council. Mrs Baird asked for further clarification regarding the process of providing links with the Health Committee. Mr Thom stated that the link would be made through the NIPEC website. Council noted the report from the Head of Corporate Services. 10.0 REPORT FROM STANDING COMMITTEE 10.1 Confirmed Minutes of the Audit Committee Meeting held on 14 th October 2008 AC/4/2008 10.2 Unconfirmed Minutes of the Audit Committee Meeting held on 3 rd February 2009 AC/1/2009 Mr Rea, Chair of the Audit Committee, drew Council Members attention to Agenda Item 7.0 Financial Statements. Council Members noted that robust negotiation had taken place regarding the refurbishment of centre house and that the initial contribution of 207,000 had been reduced to 103,000. The projected under-spend was due to the impact of RPA on staff vacancies in the first half of the year. Mr Rea expressed concern that the projected under-spend could have an impact on next year s budget. The Chief Executive informed Council Members that the reasons for the under-spend were discussed at the Accountability Review and that she did not expect a financial penalty to be applied in next year s budget. It was agreed to arrange a date for an Extra-ordinary Council Meeting to receive and sign off the Annual Report and Accounts for the current
financial year. This matter would be discussed in the Confidential Section of the meeting. 10.3 Annual Report of Activity for NIPEC Audit Committee Mr Rea, Chair of the Audit Committee, presented his report to Council. Council noted the annual report of activity for the Audit Committee. 11.0 CHIEF NURSING OFFICER UPDATE Professor Bradley presented his report and highlighted the following issues: Business and Contracts manager to be appointed for Nursing, Midwifery and Allied Health Professions post registration education Director of Nursing and Allied Health Professions at the Public Health Agency has been appointed Patient experience leaflet to be launched Termination of Pregnancy and the Law in Northern Ireland Workforce review Review of School Nursing and Health Visiting Hospital Acquired Infections Ward Sister s Charter Systematic review of the Nutrition Standards Midwifery Strategy Council Members noted the Chief Nursing Officer s update. 12.0 ANY OTHER BUSINESS No Business. 13.0 NOTICES OF MOTION The public were asked to leave the meeting at this stage. DATE, TIME AND VENUE OF NEXT MEETING Wednesday 10 th June 2009 at 2.00 pm, in the Council Room, Centre House, 79 Chichester Street, Belfast.