The ÚNICAS project works to create a statewide ecosystem of alliances for the improvement of paediatric patients with complex rare diseases throughout their care process. The project, led by the Ministry of Health, will provide comprehensive care to patients and their families through a network of 30 specialised nodes spread throughout the different regions in Spain (Comunidades Autónomas) and the national institute of health management (INGESA).

The project nodes in Catalonia are the Hospital Sant Joan de Déu, the Hospital Vall d’Hebron and the Parc Taulí Health Corporation Consortium. These nodes will be equipped with common tools, processes and protocols to establish a personalised network care model. Patients with paediatric diseases will be able to be attended at any node of the network as if they were at the reference centre for their pathology, regardless of where they live; in other words, the data will travel and not the children.

Catalonia is leading the development and technological integration of the ÚNICAS project. The TIC Salut Social Foundation is responsible for executing this line of action, assessing the technological maturity of the regions, defining the technological requirements of the project’s basic tools, ensuring that they are developed and deploying the network of nodes. The functional leadership is formed by the Hospital San Juan de Déu in Barcelona and the Community of Madrid. As a support tool, 5 functional groups have been created with more than 150 experts from all the autonomous communities to address the needs to be covered by the project.

The project is framed under the umbrella of the Personalised Digital Care Plan, financed by the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan and by the European Next Generation funds.