Annual Memoir

However, during the second half of the year, once the wave of pediatric infections was under control, we saw a significant rise in out-of-season respiratory illnesses brought on by other pathogens. The combination of these factors resulted in a slightly lower hospitalisation rate than expected, and therefore, a higher outpatient and emergency care demand.

In any case, the patients we attended were just as complex. Another important figure is that of our telemedicine programme, reaching 40% remote outpatient activity. We also continued our international cooperation efforts despite the pandemic, with more than 4,100 patient requests in 2022.

Our offering of high-complexity procedures has been widened thanks to the incorporation of augmented reality in surgical procedures, the approval of 3D surgical planning and new at-home healthcare programmes in high-complexity oncology and mental health cases.

• Transcranial magnetic stimulation system: The Pediatric Neuromodulation Unit has incorporated a new transcranial magnetic stimulation system into their unit. This new diagnostic and therapeutic technology can generate a 3D model of internal brain structures, creating a functional map of the eloquent motor and linguistic regions. This map can be transferred to the surgical planning station and then, if needs be, to surgical neuronavigation. From a therapeutic perspective, this technology is used to treat neuropsychiatric symptoms, neurodevelopmental symptoms, and those arising from neurovascular damage.
• Consolidating the role of the hospital pediatrician: The hospital pediatrician assumes responsibility for medical decisions made about patients admitted to the surgical department. In 2022, we evaluated the proof of concept carried out in the neurosurgery, general surgery and orthopedics and traumatology wards. The results support the suitability and proposed expansion of this new care programme that seeks to provide surgical patients with comprehensive care and which focuses a large part of its efforts on managing pain and anxiety.
• Sports medicine as a therapeutic option: The Sports Medicine Department, created in 2014, offers targeted services for both the general population and also amateur sports players. It involves the use of physical activity and sport as a preventative and therapeutic measure in healthcare. As such, having a sports therapist's perspective at the SJD Barcelona Children's Hospital can only be beneficial to patients and staff. During 2022, this department supported and worked alongside several other clinical departments, both on a preventative and a therapeutic level: Endocrinology, Women’s Health, Cardiology, Mental Health, Oncology and Health Education.

Guide for teenagers transitioning to adult hospital

The Hospital has published the A10! Digital Transition Guide, a tool for pediatric patients and their families to help them through the transition to adult hospital. 1,497 transfers had taken place up until October 2022, 50% of which corresponded to patients with rare diseases. The main receiving hospitals were Hospital Clínic Barcelona, Bellvitge, Vall d’Hebron and Sant Pau.

Throughout 2022, new ties have been established with other adult hospitals (Parc Taulí, Mataró or Granollers, among others) and other institutions (Aspace). Among other highlights, we have created specific protocols and carried out various group visits for patients and their families to both the pediatric and adult hospitals. We have also assessed the programme from three perspectives: the patient experience; the professional experience and the institutional vision, which have allowed us to develop a new improvement action plan.

Spiritual care (SAER)

The Spiritual and Religious Care Service (SAER) has been working hard throughout 2022 to improve its service offering and help raise awareness. On a care level, it has increased activity in more complex areas of the Hospital, such as the Neonatal Unit, La Casa de Sofía, the Palliative Care and Chronic Complex Patients Department and also in the PCCB. The huge progress made by integrating spiritual care into basic healthcare provision is clear to see. Plus, the SAER organises two in-person meditation programmes at the Hospital, as well as the Sonidos del Silencio (Sounds of Silence) SJD podcast, developed in collaboration with the Marketing and Communications Department. Finally, the SAER service brings huge educational and investigative value to the Hospital.

Social work

The Social Work Service has helped a total of 3,545 families (over 11,763 visits). The SJD Obra Social has helped 983 different families by providing food, transport, interpreters, orthodontic treatment, or paying the costs of other health needs that are not covered by public health.

Furthermore, a collaboration agreement has been set up between the SJD Barcelona Children's Hospital, the University Hospital of Bellvitge and other associations of patients with inherited retinal dystrophy, with the aim of providing social support to families with children affected by this disease. Moreover, we held the first edition of the training course in Infancy and Health: Social and Healthcare in the Hospital Context (Aula de Pediatría SJD [SJD Pediatrics Classroom]).

Hospital Amic

• Child Life: In 2022, the Child Life Service helped 2,333 patients and families in the hospital, and another 111 patients and families in La Casa de Sofía. The team has also expanded to the PCCB, where they have integrated a Child Life member into the team, participating in hospital huddles and in transfers to the Day Hospital. They have carried over various activities from Hospital Amic (art, music, clowns) and, as a new addition, introduced canine assisted therapy in the Outpatient Department. They have also launched new group activities in art and music, originally from the ‘La Fábrica de Magia [The Magic Factory]’ volunteering programme. As well as using magic as a therapeutic resource, both on pediatric wards and in the PCCB, children with retinoblastomas in the Ambulatory Surgery Department (UCA) are now also able to practice yoga. At La Casa de Sofía, we have also added music to the programme (in particular, our violin-playing pediatrician), as well as art, clowns, and game workshops run by volunteers.
• Volunteering: The volunteer team has reached 300 members, consolidating their work at La Casa de Sofía and the PCCB. We launched other new activities and programmes in 2022, such as: ‘Hospitality’, to detect the individual needs of patients we were welcoming to the Hospital; ‘Summer Youth Volunteers’, for teenagers aged 16-18 who want to help out at the PCCB; ‘Music in the hall’, where music students, patients, families and our faculty members liven up the Hospital reception with music; and even the celebration of the 1st edition of book editors inspired by patient experiences in the Hospital. A particularly significant project was ‘La Fábrica de Magia [The Magic Factory]’, which seeks to ensure all patients have the right to play and fun. To do this, volunteers and collaborators donate their time and skills to run fun, playful activities. Between February and October 2022, over 88 workshops took place, with 598 patients and 615 parents taking part.

Flat Management-style system

• Huddles strategy, a system that uses short meetings to facilitate multidisciplinary discussion of a situation in any of the 23 departments across the Hospital.
• Grupo Operaciones Asistenciales [Healthcare Operations Group] (GOA), a coordination effort in which professionals from various healthcare fields come together to discuss, agree on and implement processes, with a view to both activity level and quality. This model has been replicated in larger areas such as Mental Health and the PCCB.
• Healthcare hub, consisting of weekly meetings with upper management and heads of departments, nursing, and the Planning, Patient Experience and Quality, and International departments.

Clinical safety

• Promoting safe practice (considering aspects ranging from correct patient identification to medication safety).
• Prevention and control of infection (with hand-washing being a key element).
• Safe surgery (to plan out and ensure adherence to checklists during scheduled surgical procedures).
• Safety incident report management (with a decentralised model, multidisciplinary analysis and professional response).

EMC²

The EMC² improvement model has been just as active, with 2022 seeing new additions to the management teams of both Innovation and People and Values, bringing fresh perspectives to our work. One of our newest innovations has been incorporating quicker methodology to develop smaller-scale projects.

We have workde on 59 improvement plans in line with the EMC² model, ranging from the Respir programme for families, to care in A&E.

Budget balancing

Yearly billing in 2022 has reached 299 million Euros, with a continually balanced cash flow. Staff pay has increased by 3.5%. This increase in costs has been financed by a rise in CatSalut tariffs (+3.49%).

Diversifying funding

Our strategy to diversify our funding routes helps us keep a balanced cash flow: launching the Hospital Friend programme, renovating the technology park, maintaining high levels of research activity, and running charitable projects.

Creation of the Data Office

The Hospital has created the Data Office (DAM&GO), a body to manage the efficient organisation of Hospital data in response to growing healthcare, administrative and investigative data needs.

Twinning programme with the Hospital Saint John of God in Sierra Leone

Thanks to the support of particular entities, special donors, and also the teaming programme for our own Hospital employees, this year we have been able to bring the following programmes to life:

• Sponsor a child in Sierra Leone.
• External residency pediatrics rotations at the Lunsar Hospital.
• The “Africa Smiles” programme.
• Nutritional rehabilitation programme.
• ICARIA research project.

Cuida’m Programme

In 2022, despite facing several travel difficulties relating to visa issues, 14 children were able to receive treatment thanks to the Cuida’m Programme. The children we treated came from countries such as: Sierra Leone, Nicaragua, Algeria, Morocco, Mauritius, Tanzania, Senegal, Zanzibar, Venezuela and Peru.

The PCCB Charity Fund Programme

This programme allowed us to welcome three new patients from Cameroon, Colombia and Ghana in 2022. Furthermore, we were able to treat a baby from Indonesia with bilateral retinoblastoma: the child's eye had already been enucleated, and there were no treatment options in their home country.

Consolidation of our charity Odontology office

In 2022, our charity odontology office has been providing dental care to children and adults in vulnerable social and economic situations.

Other partnership programmes

• Collaboration on the pediatric healthcare and oxygen use training project in Morocco.
• Mother-and-child education project on the Ivory Coast.
• Erasmus+ Project HITIHE.

Alignment with SDGs

2022 saw the first phase of this project come to life, with our focus being set on two goals: compiling our in-progress programmes that are related to any of the UN 17 SDGs for the 2030 Agenda; and Benchmarking the SDGs of other entities.

This initial analysis has allowed us to see that the SJD Barcelona Children's Hospital is carrying out many programmes that already align with the SDGs: 179 actions counted, 143 of which are already in-effect. Furthermore, in addition to the SDG that most aligns with the SJD Barcelona Children's Hospital, SDG 3 (Good Health and Well-being), we have proposed the integration of a further five SDGs (12, 17, 10, 4 and 8) which we consider to be most relevant for Hospital involvement.

Assessing psychosocial risk and renewing environmental certifications

In 2022, after two years of dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic, we set our sights on getting back to normality with our Occupational Risk Prevention activities.