General hospital characteristics
A total of 226 surveys were sent out. Seventy-seven hospitals from 12 European countries completed the survey, resulting in a response rate of 34% (Figure S1). We estimated a median response rate per country of 42% (IQR 31-50) (Table S1). The median number of hospital beds was 118 (IQR 70-191) (Table 1). About half of the participants were from independent Children’s hospitals while the other half were co-located with adult hospitals. Seventy-five centers (97%) had their oncology ward and the PICU in the same hospital.
The median number of newly diagnosed pediatric cancer patients per year was 80 (IQR 41-120) with a wide range from 5 to 1538. The median number of both oncology and hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT) beds were similar among the different regions. Most centers had a 1:3 or 1:4 nurse-to-bed ratio for the oncology ward (Fig. 1A). For the HSCT wards, the ratio was 1:2, except for the UK centers in which most centers had a ratio of 1:3 (Fig. 1B).