Annual Report

Thanks to the diversification of markets strategy, international activity has been stable with regard to the volume of requests, the number of patients treated and billing, all in spite of current serious military conflicts and their impact on Eastern Europe. More specifically, over 1,000 international patients were treated in the year, with a 7% increase compared to the previous year. These patients come from 95 different countries. Every day, 100 children are treated in the hospital. There are a total of 55 staff members working in this department.

The Neonatal Units at the SJD Barcelona Children's Hospital and Hospital Clínic have merged with the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit to form the new Integrated Critical Care Center. Although these units have been working closely since their inception, this merge represents an innovative new approach. It will allow for greater access to highly specialised, clinician-led programs aimed at patients, impacting three key areas: combined management of critical patients throughout their clinical course; coordination across both highly specialised and transversal healthcare areas; and improved quality and safety thanks to integrated programs and the use of data and artificial intelligence.

Between the two neonatal units, the new center has a total of 71 beds, making it the largest on a national level.

The Pediatric Endocrinology Department at the Hospital has been the first to diagnose a newborn in Catalonia with the most severe form of congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH). This disease was recently added to the neonatal screening program—or heel-prick test—coordinated and financed by the Generalitat de Catalunya’s Department of Health. This rare, genetic disease occurs in one in every 10,000-20,000 live births and results in insufficient cortisol production, which can have very serious repercussions, including death.

The patient was diagnosed at seven days old, meaning the child can safely start treatment and, consequently, avoid potentially life threatening situations.

During a routine dental procedure at a private dental clinic, the anesthetic needle snapped and migrated to the four-year-old patient's brain. The young girl was urgently taken to the SJD Barcelona Children’s Hospital, where the delicate surgical procedure to remove the needle was coordinated between the Maxillofacial Surgery and Neurosurgery Departments. Despite the severity of the situation, the operation was a success and the girl suffered zero neurological effects or damage.

This case highlights the importance of a coordinated response between various hospital departments, as well as the high surgical skill of the surgical teams. Due to the exceptional nature of the case, it was presented at the Spanish Society for Pediatric Neurosurgery congress.

Despite wearing a helmet, Mia suffered a serious injury to her head and face, causing an open fronto-orbital fracture with multiple fragments. When she arrived at hospital, she exhibited a frank impairment to consciousness. The rapid, coordinated response by the multidisciplinary Neurosurgery and Maxillofacial Surgery teams was crucial, performing a full surgical repair of the cranial and orbital fracture, as well as an assessment of a small epidural hematoma. The patient's post-op progress in the ICU and hospital ward was excellent, as was her subsequent follow-up, confirming there were no additional complications.

Despite a global fall in birth rates, there was a 7.4% increase in births at SJD compared to the previous year. The hospital’s position in the field of obstetrics, with its modern infrastructures and respected birthing model, is a very positive factor when attracting families.

Symptoms of the condition include a reduction or loss of consciousness due to deregulation in the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems, causing a slowed heart rate that, in more severe cases, can even pause momentarily. This minimally invasive technique can avoid the need for a pacemaker, which is still the standard option for these more extreme cases. The team at the Arrhythmia Unit has been using this technique—more commonly used on adult patients—for the last two years. It consists of inserting a venous catheter through the groin before modulating the parasympathetic nerve clusters responsible for this disorder through ablation.

At the SJD Barcelona Children’s Hospital, eight patients have undergone this technique so far and, in 2024, a special training session was held for pediatric cardiology specialists from other hospitals in Spain.

The Cystic Fibrosis Unit at the SJD Barcelona Children’s Hospital—a leading unit in the diagnosis and management of this disease in pediatric patients—has begun to treat children aged two to five with cystic fibrosis caused by a specific genetic mutation. The treatment is a highly effective modulator that had already shown good results in children over the age of six.

When applied very early on in these patients, the treatment can completely change the prognosis of this progressive, chronic disease, as it will help preserve target organs from early infancy, ensuring the same life expectancy as the general population.

Following the motto ‘Science for Hope’, the plan involves seven key strategic axes and 19 strategic objectives for the IRSJD, as well as a four-objective strategic axis to breathe new life into research conducted at other centers in the region. The model seeks to strengthen internal investigative talent, protect research time and ensure better access to patient samples and data, with the support of groundbreaking new technology and external alliances with established research groups, acting as a lever of change.

One of the main aims of the IRSJD in 2024 was reaccreditation as a CERCA center (Research Center of Catalonia). The evaluation process was held at the end of November and the good news was announced by early 2025. The IRSJD—consisting of the SJD Barcelona Children's Hospital, the University of Barcelona, the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC), the SJD Parc Sanitari and the SJD Research Foundation—promotes a unique model focused on research in the field of pediatric biomedicine, mental health and mother-and-child health.

All teaching personnel are accredited by the Boston Children’s Hospital - Harvard Medical School Simulation Program. In 2024, there were 275 simulation-based activities conducted to train medical professionals, among which were the new in-person Neonatology training sessions for residents.

In March 2024, an agreement was signed with the Biomedical Research Institute (IRB Barcelona) to encourage basic research in the field of pediatric cancer, with a targeted focus on translational science and future commercialisation of the obtained results. The agreement is part of the strategy for scientific excellence of the IRSJD and the SJD Barcelona Children's Hospital, through which various partnerships are formed with prestigious research facilities in the field, all with the aim of bolstering collaborative research in pediatric disease, particularly in rare diseases.

The agreement also considers the opening of a new laboratory to study the specific vulnerabilities of pediatric tumors, with the aim of discovering new therapeutic approaches.

The SJD Barcelona Children's Hospital has signed an agreement with BioCat, the institution promoting the d-HEALTH Barcelona program, to become one of the facilities to house the initiative over the coming three years. This program seeks to train future innovators and create fresh new solutions to unmet clinical needs.

In collaboration with the CataloniaBio & HealthTech Cluster—a cluster of more than 200 Catalonian biomedical companies—the SJD Barcelona Children's Hospital has organised the Hospital Connection workshops, which focus on the specific healthcare needs of the SJD Barcelona Children's Hospital, in order to present them to the industry to help identify and co-develop new solutions for the challenges recognised.

The 14th edition of the FAROS report was released in early October 2024, with heavy media attention: Learning and neurodevelopmental disorders. Advice for avoiding academic failure. The report, coordinated by the School of Health and the staff in the School Learning Disorders Unit (UTAE), also involved the hospital's Mental Health Area and Neurology Department.

The report is aimed at families, education and healthcare professionals, and also wider society. Its content details the broad field of neurodevelopmental disorders that have repercussions on the learning process. The authors discuss the progress that has been made in the development of the inclusive education model, despite the fact that most interventions suffer from a lack of prevention strategies and continue to be implemented after school failure.

The report highlights healthy habits that promote brain development, detailing an array of adaptations that can be implemented by schools to address neurodiversity.

In 2019, the SJD Barcelona Children's Hospital launched a family association to better understand the family experience of hospital care processes and to listen to feedback and apply it to healthcare practice. Since then, on a monthly basis, around 20 families meet with quality assurance personnel for a joint session aimed at improving the patient experience in the hospital.

To continue upholding our culture of safety, several activities have been reviewed and scaled up, such as the observation of safe practices with real-time feedback for healthcare staff, empowering key patient safety leaders across various fields, and the organisation of monthly clinical safety awareness campaigns. In addition, a total of 999 staff and volunteers attended training sessions on clinical safety.

In line with patient participation in EMC2 projects, and via the Family Association, over 50,000 interactions with patients and families were collected in 2024 across various channels (surveys, website, complaints, feedback), with social media networks being a new addition. The transactional survey system has been gradually expanded, which currently allows for the continuous collection of information from patient interactions across 10 healthcare fields and eight different devices.

In 2024, two new roles were defined—advanced practice technician in diagnostic imaging (DI), and porter coordinator—which are added to the previously defined roles, such as clinical assistant, lead nurse and advanced practice nurse, all very highly rated by patients and staff alike.

The implementation of these new roles aims to encourage professional development, allowing staff to perform tasks normally above their usual responsibilities. This means that staff members who hold less common, more specialist roles that were previously responsible for those tasks are able to dedicate more of their time to higher value tasks and activities.

The SJD Barcelona Children's Hospital broadened its offering of social benefits to staff in 2024 with the launch of the EstarBé program, which aims to better cover factors that promote wellbeing and personal and professional balance.

Among the many developments are: the Familiars program (aimed at improving the involvement of family members with disabilities); emotional support groups (with monthly workshops for staff working in units with more complex patients); the personalised emotional support service; the Salut Games (an event promoting physical activity and healthy competition in the field); group training teams; or the summer program for children of staff members.

The ENCERTA Committee was created to ensure that all AI innovations developed during 2024 are aligned with organisational values and can be applied effectively and sustainably in the hospital environment. The committee oversees any projects related to AI, establishing clear criteria for responsible use, ensuring that any AI-based solutions that are developed comply with the highest safety, ethics and efficiency standards. It sets out a solid framework for how this technology can be used in the future.

The SJD Barcelona Children's Hospital has continued its work to strengthen cybersecurity in its IT systems. A new server infrastructure has been installed that will provide the hospital with a disaster recovery system, with mirror imaging of equipment, improved cyberattack detection systems and the implementation of a new security back-up system.

Progress has been made in other aspects, such as the security plan suggested by the Catalan Cybersecurity Agency, the establishment of contingency plans for critical applications, cyberincident simulations, hospital-specific ENS (National Security Framework) certification, or the incorporation of cybersecurity training modules for all employees on the SJD Talent portal.

Firstly, the Microsoft cloud environment was prioritised in order to roll out the proof of concept for generative AI and, subsequently, to provide support for the core business servers of the Research Foundation. Simultaneously, in the Amazon cloud environment, a data analysis infrastructure is being built to test generative AI genotype coding and exome analysis.

In addition, the laboratory servers were successfully migrated to the private SEIDOR cloud environment. Finally, workloads were migrated to private cloud servers, which may prove useful as an alternative to public cloud systems for some cases.

The new patient portal was launched in 2024, welcoming the over 10,000 patients registered on the previous portal. Over 40 different eConsulta diaries are accessible, permitting communication between patients, their caregivers, and hospital staff. Thanks to the integration with HCIS, this portal allows patients to better meet their functional needs.

The new design offers greater versatility and tracking of various processes, such as appointment management or requesting reports by families. These improvements optimise patient care and offer an organised, accessible service. The aim is to continue broadening portal functionality, ensuring that more families can benefit from these digital services.

The Spiritual and Religious Guidance Service (SAER) is a key element of our patient-centered, comprehensive care model. Welcoming of all faiths and beliefs, it offers inclusive spiritual and religious support to patients and their family members. The SAER maintained its care model in 2024 and has also expanded into the Neonatal Department—growing by a cumulative 150% over the two years prior—and also increased its involvement with critical pediatric patients. New referral pathways have been created in the Neurology and Genetic Counselling Departments.

In 2024, we also saw the introduction of the Guidelines on cultural diversity and beliefs in mother-and-child healthcare, a document that details how to ensure healthcare provision that is respectful of cultural and religious beliefs.

The Hospital Amic program, alongside the ChildLife service, contributes to a reduction in hospitalisation-related anxiety and fear. In addition to the already implemented hospital clowns, palliative art therapy, dog-assisted interventions and music therapy, more initiatives have been added, such as cinema sessions, astronomy workshops, magic shows or volunteer buddying, both one-to-one or in groups.

New initiatives were launched in 2024, such as group workshops for siblings of neonates, the storyteller for pediatric, neonatal and PICU wards, or the Hospital Sensible project to improve the experience of patients with neurodevelopmental, sensory and behavioral disorders. Finally, other notable improvements include the expansion of the program into the Minerva Unit for eating disorders and the broadening of PCCB activity.

The volunteer team has continued working with various departments at the SJD Barcelona Children's Hospital, in addition to offering specific support programs like The magic factory (a play-based initiative), educational support for Cuida’m patients, support during medical workshops (at weekends) and summer camps for patients with neurofibromatosis.

Several new initiatives were developed in 2024, including the welcome tour of the hospital for CAR-T patients and patients recently diagnosed with oncological disease This activity allows patients and families to get familiar with hospital facilities from their first encounter, contributing to a better experience.

Support has also been provided in the Emergency Department for immunocompromised patients waiting in the restricted area and the volunteer taxi program has been reactivated along with the volunteer program at schools near the hospital.

A comprehensive new project was designed and set in motion in 2024 to provide support for patients admitted to the PICU and their families so as to better tend to their physical, emotional and spiritual needs. Among the new support measures is a new welcome guide, along with a welcome kit tailored to the patient’s age, and a sibling support service has also been implemented by the ChildLife team.

The program also offers support for patients’ emotional wellbeing, with a reviewed analgesia and sedation protocol, the implementation of the nighttime rest program, and also a program for getting some fresh air with walks in the therapeutic garden. This family focus also led to the introduction of the ICU diary, where families can reflect on their experience. Finally, we must also mention the training activities for staff on delivering news to families and patients.

Twinning with the St John of God Hospital in Lunsar (Sierra Leone)

The SJD Barcelona Children's Hospital continued its partnership with the St John of God Hospital in Mabesseneh, Lunsar, simultaneously launching several other initiatives, including:

• Resident rotations at the Lunsar hospital
• The Apadrina Program
• The Malnutrition Program
• The ICARIA Project
• The Erasmus+ HITIHE Project
• The AZIMUT Agreement

The Cuida’m Program

In 2024, the Cuida’m Program covered the costs of transfers and surgical procedures for 14 children. Six patients were treated by the Cardiology and Cardiac Surgery team, with the remaining eight treated by other specialisms. The children came from countries such as Morocco, Senegal, Algeria, Cuba, Venezuela, Benin, Tanzania and El Salvador.

This program was kept running thanks to contributions from 10 different donors, with particular support from the Fundación Infancia Solidaria.

New façade of the Maternity building and installation of solar panels

In line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the hospital has taken several steps to promote sustainability and improve energy efficiency. As such, the façade of the Maternity building was renovated, with the installation of solar panels being a key feature. This initiative represents a significant step forward in the production of renewable energy in-situ and contributes to the reduction of greenhouse gases.

A safe, healthy and sustainable hospital

The Prevention and Environment Service continued its work in 2024 to guarantee the hospital is safer, healthier and more environmentally sustainable. Some of its initiatives include:

• Creation and implementation of a fire safety and specific evacuation plan for the Neonatal Unit.
• A psychosocial risk assessment for all staff.
• Organisation of workshops on patient mobilisation using minor assistive devices and hoists for transfers.
• Launch of the ‘Healthy Nutrition’ campaign for overweight or mildly obese professionals.
• Participation in the International Congress of Nurses.
• Launch of new campaigns—Stop plastic, Quirófano Verde [Green Theater]and Compra Verde [Buy Green]—to reduce the hospital’s carbon footprint.

Finally, we must mention the legal audit of the Prevention Service and the environmental certification renewal audit (ISO 14001 and EMAS) that took place in 2024, which confirmed the correct and proper functioning of the Management System of the Prevention and Environment Service.

Donations to the Únicas program

The SJD Barcelona Children's Hospital and the Amancio Ortega Foundation have signed a collaboration agreement to promote research into rare diseases. The Amancio Ortega Foundation will contribute almost €60 million towards the construction and kitting out of the new ‘Únicas SJD’ building, a pioneering international research and care facility for rare diseases. Donations from entities such as the Leo Messi Foundation, Stavros Niarchos Foundation or America's Cup will allow for the implementation of healthcare programs linked to the Únicas SJD project.

Charity events

• SJD Charity Night: The latest edition of Charity Night was held on 27 June, with a charity dinner and concert celebrated as part of the ALMA festival Barcelona aimed at businesses. There were almost 700 attendees at the event, sponsored and supported by 52 different entities. A total of €218,400 was raised, which will go to the Únicas SJD project.
• Third Inseperables gala: The ninth edition of the Inseperables gala was held in November, a charity dinner for families of patients, with hospital staff also in attendance. The gala was developed in collaboration with the CCIB (Barcelona International Convention Center) and, like in previous years, took the form of a hybrid event with two forms of participation (in-person or online from home) so that families living far away from the hospital could still take part.

Society initiatives: Hot Chocolate Party and the ‘RAC1 Solidarity Turrón’

In 2024, a total of 701 schools took part in the Hot Chocolate Party, alongside all kinds of entities such as sports clubs, small and large businesses, neighborhood associations, local councils and friend groups, who joined the initiative to help raise funds for pediatric cancer research. The more than €350,000 raised will go towards funding grants for six researchers from different research projects and two grants for irreplaceable laboratory team members, the lab manager and a biotechnician. In addition, the funds will also help pay for equipment needed for the tumor biobank, specifically, liquid nitrogen tanks for cryopreservation.

The ‘Solidarity Turrón’ campaign raised a total of €318,453 in its ninth edition, the highest figure raised since the project began. The initiative by RAC1 and Torrons Vicens has raised a total of €2,105,956 since 2015, all of which goes towards promoting research into rare diseases. As with previous editions, several projects from the BRAIN Project, which falls under the Únicas Network, will receive funding.