Northern Ireland Board
24 September 2012
Agenda item 12/64
ROYAL COLLEGE OF NURSING NORTHERN IRELAND
Minutes of the Northern Ireland Board meeting held on Monday, 25 June 2012
at 10.00 am in the Boardroom, 17 Windsor Avenue, Belfast, BT9 6EE.
Present
Ann Marie O’Neill
Kevin Bell
Margaret Graham
Joe McCambridge
Margaret McCambridge
Francis Lavery
William McCormick
Mary Walker
Louise Dorman
Margaret Meehan
Lorna Mercer
Michael Battersby
Janice Smyth
Chair
Council Member
Primary and Public Health Field of Practice
Belfast Branch
UK Learning Representatives’ Committee
Southern Branch
Belfast Branch
South Eastern Branch
Student Representative
Children and Young People’s Field of Practice
Acute Intervention Field of Practice
North Western Branch
Director
Apologies
Robert Moore
Rosemary Strange
Martain Fiddis
Eamonn Connolly
Donna Hanna
Vice-Chair/Health and Safety Regional Committee
Nurses Working with Older People Field of Practice
South Western Branch
Southern Branch
Northern Branch
Staff in attendance
Garrett Martin
Maura Hannon
John Knape
Carolyn Mason
Joy Ireland
Deputy Director
Personal Assistant to Director/Board Administrator
Head of Communications, Policy and Marketing
Head of Professional Development
Business Manager
MINUTES
12/45
Chair’s opening remarks and declaration of interest
The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting and informed the Board that
she had sent a text on their behalf to Janice Smyth, Director, to
congratulate her daughter Rachael who is graduating in nursing in
Edinburgh.
Ann Marie O’Neill, Chair, paid tribute to everyone involved in the recent
Nurse of the Year Awards. Margaret McCambridge expressed surprise
that none of the successes of the Northern Health and Social Care Trust
were posted on the Trust’s website.
No conflicts of interest declared.
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Ann Marie informed that Board that letters of congratulations were sent on
their behalf to Robert Sowney on his re-appointment as Chair of the RCN
Foundation Board and to Claire Mahon on her election as President of the
Irish Nurses and Midwives organisation.
The following awards in the recent Queen’s Birthday Honours list were
highlighted and Ann Marie suggested that letters of congratulations should
be sent on behalf of the Board:





Marianne Moutray, QUB, awarded an MBE for services to nursing
education
Susan Semple, awarded an MBE for services to health care in Northern
Ireland (NI)
Heather Monteverde, General Manager, Macmillan Cancer Support NI,
awarded an MBE for services to cancer sufferers
Elaine Herd, Nursing Auxiliary, NI Hospice, awarded a BEM for services
to nursing; and
Elaine Way, Chief Executive, Western Health and Social Care Trust,
awarded a CBE for services to healthcare.
Margaret McCambridge suggested that a letter of congratulations should
also be sent to the Chair of RCN Council, Kath McCourt, who was awarded
a CBE for services to nursing; the Board agreed.
12/46
Minutes of Board meeting held on Monday 23 April 2012
Minutes of the Board meeting held on 23 April 2012 agreed and signed
(paper nib/12/46) subject to amendment requested by Margaret
McCambridge at paragraph 6, page 5, where “Margaret McCambridge”
should read “Joe McCambridge”.
The Chair referred to the RCN driving at work policy and informed the
Board that expenses would continue to be signed off for anyone who had
not presented the original documents requested as there appears to be
some confusion around whether this should only apply to staff but not
members. Joy reported that she had not received any correspondence
stating that copies of these documents are not required. Ann Marie O’Neill
re-iterated that the RCN NI Board had implemented the policy as requested
by HQ; however, it now appears that this advice has been overturned. Ann
Marie will raise this at the July Council meeting.
12/47
Matters arising
A
Access to technology in the workplace – item 12/27(b)
In the absence of the Director, Garrett Martin, Deputy Director,
updated the Board on recent meetings with Eddie Ritson, Centre for
Connected Health and Social Care, who is keen to develop a
relationship with the RCN, and reported that Janice and Kim
Campbell, Primary Care Manager, South Eastern HSC Trust are
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meeting with Kevin Keenan, Health and Social Care Board, on 6 July
to discuss issues in relation to the NISAT tool. Garrett advised that
there are concerns on a number of levels from a trade union
perspective particularly in relation to shared services and the impact
on frontline staff.
Janice will also meet with David Bingham, Chief Executive, HSC
Business Services Organisation, regarding the implementation of this
system. Garrett advised that a number of human resource and
finance staff will be affected and although nursing staff will not be
directly affected from an employment perspective, they will be in
terms of the time required to input data into IT systems.
Lorna Mercer informed the Board that training is taking place within
the Belfast HSC Trust, however, it is difficult to evaluate the impact at
this stage, and Joe McCambridge advised that there are issues with
availability of computer hardware and terminals.
B
Amended process and criteria for attendance at Congress 2013 –
item 12/27(c)
The Chair informed the Board that she had raised at a recent MRC
meeting the conflicting information shared at Congress indicating that
branch funds can be used to support additional branch members to
attend Congress over the next few years. This information is contrary
to instructions given previously and implemented by the RCN NI
Board as directed by HQ. Ann Marie questioned where the decision
to change the legal and governance guidance had been taken and
will raise this at the July Council meeting.
Michael Battersby joined the meeting.
The Deputy Director spoke to paper nib/12/47 previously circulated
and advised that this is an updated paper following Congress this
year, incorporating discussions at a recent Board seminar and a
previous paper outlining criteria for first time attendees at Congress.
Although there has been positive feedback on the process this year,
Garrett welcomed any suggestions that might improve it further
Margaret McCambridge asked why England, Scotland and Wales had
been funded for five nights at Congress yet Northern Ireland
delegates were only funded for four. The Chair asked whether there
was evidence to support this and Margaret confirmed that she had
received an email from Jane Clarke, Director of Governance Support.
Margaret has been approached by a member of the Northern branch
about this; Garrett agreed to follow up on this.
Carolyn Mason, Head of Professional Development, congratulated
colleagues on producing this thorough and comprehensive paper and
encouraged branches to give consideration to members of networks
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who had a long involvement with the RCN when agreeing attendance
at Congress. Joe McCambridge responded that any branch member
is eligible to apply, and Margaret McCambridge stated that as
previous involvement with the RCN was not part of the criteria this
could not be given priority. Garrett reminded the Board that they set
and agreed the criteria, and the Chair declared that the criteria did not
disadvantage anyone. Whilst Margaret McCambridge said that she
found the criteria difficult to apply, Garrett drew her attention to
section 5.1.5 of the selection criteria “Preference should be given to
those in membership the longest”.
Margaret Meehan expressed the opinion that it had been an excellent
process and that the clear guidance had helped make their branch
stronger, whilst Francis Lavery believed the induction process was
very beneficial and helped break down barriers.
The Board agreed the content of paper nib/12/47.
C
Removal of RCN NI page from Bulletin – item 12/27(e)
In the absence of the Director, the Chair invited John Knape, Head of
Communications, Policy and Marketing, to update the Board on the
meeting with Janice, John, Lisa Holden and Fiona Johnston, Director
of Communications, on 21 June 2012.
John informed the Board that they had discussed a range of issues
including the removal of the NI page from Bulletin, setting out the
concerns of the Board and the negative impact on our ability to
communicate with members as Bulletin guaranteed that we could
reach all members in NI. Whilst Fiona was sympathetic she was
unable to give any indication that the decision is likely to be reversed.
They discussed alternative ways of reaching the membership
including the suggestion to enclose a letter from Janice Smyth with
Bulletin highlighting events happening in NI, and will discuss this
further with Janice. John assured the Board that Janice and he will
continue to articulate the concerns of the membership and to work
with Fiona to explore other options for ensuring information gets out
to our members. John advised the Board that the RCN website is to
be rebranded and re-launched and this might provide an opportunity
to improve our efforts to reach the membership.
Margaret McCambridge reminded the Board that the branch
constitution states that all branch members must be informed three
weeks in advance of forthcoming AGMs and that Bulletin had
provided the perfect mechanism for getting this information out to
members. With the Northern Branch AGM scheduled for September,
Margaret asked how she could ensure that all branch members were
notified. Whilst the use of bulk email and posting information on the
website may help, John Knape reminded the Board that only one third
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of our membership have email addresses and not all members have
computer access, and Garrett Martin emphasised the limitations of
email highlighting the example of the recent pensions issue when the
one third of the membership with email addresses were targeted,
following analysis of the emails opened, only 10 per cent of members
read the information.
Michael Battersby enquired about the uptake of the public affairs
weekly update and John Knape outlined the circulation list including
Board members, branch secretaries, branch chairs, networks,
individuals who requested the update, however, it does not reach all
the membership, although colleagues are encouraged to share the
update at a local level.
Following a lengthy discussion it was agreed that all branch
secretaries would write to the RCN Director of Governance Support,
Jane Clarke, highlighting the requirement in the branch constitution to
give all branch members three weeks notice of the details of the
branch AGM and ask Jane what mechanism is in place to ensure all
members are informed.
Kevin Bell enquired whether it would be an option for RCN NI to set
up a face book page and Garrett expressed some reservations but
agreed to discuss this with Janice.
12/48
RCN legal and governance review: Boards work strand
The Chair spoke to paper nib/12/48 circulated at the meeting including
consultation with branches 2012 document from the Chair of Council and
the RCN NI Board’s agreed transition plan submitted to the Director of
Governance Support on 14 May 2012. Ann Marie suggested the Board
take time after the meeting to read the document again and advised that
although RCN NI had already submitted their transition plan within the
timescale as requested, Congress Chair of Council, Kath McCourt, and
Vice Chair of Council, Michael Brown, undertook to hold a meeting in every
country and region with board members and branch officers to discuss the
branch review and extended the submission date for transition plans. It
was noted that Kath McCourt had been present at the RCN NI Board
meeting on 23 April 2012 when the Director delivered a presentation,
facilitated a discussion, agreed to circulate a draft transition plan to all
Board members for comment before submission to Director of Governance
Support. Ann Marie and the Director subsequently sent an email to Kath
and Michael on 13 June 2012 outlining the process adopted in the RCN in
Northern Ireland, where all branches are represented on the Board; no
response has been received to date. Ann Marie did not expect the Board’s
transition plan to change but will keep the Board appraised of any further
developments. The Chair expressed her disappointment that after all the
work undertaken by this Board, other Boards had not adhered to the
process.
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Maura Hannon drew the Board’s attention to an error on page 1 of the
Board’s transition plan template highlighted by Mary Walker; “South
Eastern x 1 seat” should read “South Eastern x 2 seats” although the error
does not affect the composition of the Board and subsequent information.
Joe and Margaret McCambridge and Louise Dorman were approached by
some members at Congress and asked about the process. Garrett Martin
stated that the issue was around engagement but in NI we are confident
that as all branches are represented on the Board, and our Board meetings
are very well attended, our submission is representative of the membership
in NI. John Knape added that as the member of staff who represented NI
on the original legal and governance group that during the early stages this
Board was held up as an example of a Board that worked well with a
common shared understanding of what a board involves.
Kevin Bell stated that the issue had been discussed at the joint
representatives’ conference in Leeds and that it had not been contentious.
A similar presentation was delivered but delivered in a different manner,
with agreement that it is the way forward.
12/49
Chair’s report
The Chair spoke to paper nib/12/49 previously circulated and informed the
Board that she, together with the Director, had met with Dame Judith Hill
and some staff at the NI Children’s Hospice on 22 June 2012. Ann Marie
expressed her concern at the funding difficulties experienced by the
hospice and encouraged anyone who sits at the trade union and JNCF
table to write to their director of children’s services asking what funding was
allocated in Transforming Your Care for children requiring palliative care.
12/50
Director’s report
The Board noted paper nib/12/50 previously circulated.
12/51
RCN NI Frontline First
The Deputy Director spoke to paper nib/12/51 previously circulated and
drew the Board’s attention to workforce figures with a fairly significant
increase in the trained nursing workforce since the previous quarter.
Louise Dorman responded that Council agreed that the term trained and
untrained should not be used but instead registered and unregistered, or
regulated and unregulated. Garrett confirmed that he was repeating the
terminology used by the DHSSPS.
Garrett updated on the increase in the administrative workforce, trust
delivery plans and outlined plans for a frontline first summit on 14
September. He has written to branch officials inviting two nominees from
each branch to attend the summit.
Margaret Graham cautioned against figures and statistics as the new
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parenting programme rolled out could camouflage some of the health
visiting figures and may not be truly comparative.
12/52
Congress voting
Garrett Martin spoke to paper nib/12/52 previously circulated summarising
Congress voting pattern, highlighting discrepancies within the report and
emphasised that it was for information only.
Mary Walker reported that she had attended every session, together with
Joanne Stevenson; however, if they arrived after the doors were closed
they were not scanned in and therefore not recorded. Kevin Bell stated
that if a member did not leave the hall between sessions, they were not
included in the second session figures. Louise Dorman reported that she
was recorded as not voting for the entire Congress yet her handset was
registering that votes had been sent; the fault was not picked up until
Thursday morning, and Margaret McCambridge confirmed that all Northern
Branch members were present and voted but apparently handsets do not
work in the rafters where some of their members were seated. Ann Marie
will raise this at July Council when Congress will be discussed and Garrett
emphasised that the paper illustrates the inconsistencies.
12/53
Congress 2013
The Chair informed the Board that the RCN NI Board will be hosting Celtic
Night at Congress 2013 in Liverpool and asked for volunteers to join a subgroup of the Board to organise the event. The sub group will comprise of
Ann Marie O’Neill, Mary Walker, Joe McCambridge, Margaret Meehan and
Joanne Stevenson.
A short discussion followed on potential venues and the Chair asked John
Knape to prepare something for the next Board meeting in September.
12/54
Use of branch funds to fund members attendance at Congress
Margaret McCambridge referred to the use of branch funds to enable
additional members to attend Congress (also referred to under agenda
item 12/47(b)) and asked whether the branch would have to go through the
same procedure as that used for discretionary funding. The Chair
suggested that this should be deferred until she could obtain clarity on this
matter. Margaret confirmed that the information had come from the RCN
Director of Finance on Thursday of Congress. Ann Marie reiterated that as
this was not discussed at Council she would seek clarify and report back to
the Board. Garrett agreed that this stance was contrary to what the Board
had previously been told and therefore required clarification.
12/55
Marketing plan
John Knape spoke to paper nib/12/55 previously circulated seeking the
Board’s endorsement and approval of the marketing plan. John provided
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some background, talked the Board through the plan, and provided an up
to date report on targets. The Board endorsed and approved the plan.
Michael Battersby reported on feedback received from two members who
left the RCN stating that they were not represented properly; however, they
had never actually requested local representation. Michael asked if there
was any way to address people leaving as this had cast a slur on the
branch, and Kevin Bell expressed his disappointment that they were
discrediting representatives at a local level. John Knape advised that his
department used to contact leavers for feedback but this is now carried out
by Cardiff but emphasised that the College is always interested in
feedback.
12/56
NI networks sub-committee updated
Carolyn Mason, Head of Professional Development, circulated paper
nib/12/56 at the meeting outlining the revised terms of reference for the
RCN NI local network sub-committee and reported that the committee is
progressing well in implementing the new governance arrangements for the
networks. The action plans are coming in for this quarter and after the first
quarter it will be possible to provide a quarterly finance report.
Carolyn advised that the lead link staff member for non active networks will
make contact with them to discuss disbanding the network, outlined the
process for establishing a new network, and emphasised the importance of
being a member of a national forum in order to be registered on the
membership database to receive information relating to the local networks.
The Board approved the revised terms of reference.
Margaret McCambridge referred again to item 12/28 of the minutes of 23
April 2012 (paragraph 6, page 5) and said it should read “Joe
McCambridge” and not “Margaret McCambridge”; however, Carolyn
confirmed that Joe was not part of the sub-committee but may have been a
member of the original project group. It was confirmed that the Board
members represented on the sub-committee are Ann Marie O’Neill,
Rosemary Strange, Lorna Mercer and Margaret Graham.
12/57
Matters from Boards for Council
The Chair had accumulated a number of matters for the July Council
meeting including:



Clarification of driving at work policy for members
Use of branch funds for attendance at Congress
Discrepancies and problems experienced in recording Congress voting
Margaret McCambridge suggested that Council should be made aware of
the difficulty experienced during a lunchtime fringe event when the activity
of lunches being distributed and opened resulted in so much noise that she
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could not hear the speaker. Ann Marie confirmed that there will be a
general discussion of Congress at the July Council meeting and agreed to
raise this.
12/58
Summary Council report - 12 May 2012
The Board noted paper nib/12/58 previously circulated.
12/59
Media and consultation update
The Board noted paper nib/12/59 previously circulated.
12/60
Reports from branches, fields of practice, regional learning
representative, regional safety representative and UK stewards’
committee
Board members noted reports previously circulated as follows:






Northern Ireland regional safety representatives’ - paper nib/12/60(i)
Nurses working with older people field of practice - paper nib/12/60(ii)
Belfast branch - paper nib/12/60(iii)
NI learning representative - paper nib/12/60(iv)
South Eastern branch - paper nib/12/60(v)
North Western branch – paper nib/12/60(vi)
with the following reports circulated at the meeting:



12/61
Primary care and public health field of practice - paper nib/12/60(vii)
Southern branch - paper nib/12/60(viii)
Children and young people’s field of practice - paper nib/12/60(ix).
Although Donna Hanna sent her apologies, she intends to forward a copy
of the Northern Branch report to Maura Hannon for circulation to the Board.
.
Any other business
A
Student bursaries
Louise Dorman spoke to paper nib/12/61 (DHSSPSNI consultation on
the Review of HSC Student Bursary Schemes) circulated at the
meeting, provided background information and encouraged Board
member to contribute to the consultation. John Knape is co-ordinating
the response with the deadline of 2 August 2012, although John would
appreciate comments before then to enable him to prepare the
response. Louise is particularly concerned for students who have
already accepted university places who if changes are implemented
may only be aware of these three weeks before the course starts. The
proposal presented in the consultation includes reducing the level of
funding by £890 per annum to the nursing and midwifery non means
tested award from 2012/13.
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B
Agenda item 12/64
Engagement of members at Congress
The Deputy Director congratulated members from Northern Ireland on
their engagement at Congress this year and referred the Board to an
article published in the June edition of RCN Bulletin featuring Roisin
Devlin, Northern Branch delegate, and an article published in the June
edition of Activate featuring Brenda McIlmurray, HCA and AP
Committee member for NI.
C
Proposed NMC fee increase
Garrett Martin encouraged members to feedback their views to the
NMC proposed fees increase from £76 to £120 per year.
D
History of nursing book
Margaret Graham reported that stories are still being received for
inclusion in the book and would welcome more stores and photographs
from nurses who trained in the Ulster and City hospitals, worked in the
areas of mental health, children’s and community, and who worked in
the Northern Trust. Any additional information should be forwarded to
Tom Rush, Lecturer, RCN.
12/62
Date and time of next meeting
The next meeting of the RCN Northern Ireland Board will be held on
Monday, 24 September 2012 at 10.00 am in the Boardroom, 17 Windsor
Avenue, Belfast, BT9 6EE.
Signed:
Date:
24 September 2012
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