**Art. 1 Regulation on School Medicine Regulation on School Medicine**

1 This Regulation defines the scope of intervention, organisation, duties, functioning, and financing of school medicine.

2 The Department of Health and Social Affairs (hereinafter referred to as the Department) is the competent authority for the application of this Regulation.

1 Beneficiaries of school medical services include students attending public and private compulsory schools, whether recognized as equivalent or not.

2 Students and school staff of schools of all levels and types may also benefit from school medical services upon indication by the Cantonal Doctor.

3 Similarly, upon indication by the Cantonal Doctor and for reasons related to the protection of public health, minors attending collective reception facilities and the staff of such facilities may exceptionally also benefit from school medical services.

1 School medicine is coordinated by the Cantonal Doctor.

2 School medicine is composed of the following elements that collaborate and interact as specified by these regulations

a) the School Medicine Service;

b) the school doctors.

1 The School Health Service (hereinafter Service) is an internal service of the Cantonal Medical Office.

2 The Service utilizes healthcare and administrative personnel. It is led by a Service head who organizes, directs, and supervises the planned activities.

3 The Service is entrusted with the following tasks

a) coordinating, documenting, and operationally supporting school doctors in their prescribed activities;

b) planning and implementing activities indicated in the strategic guidelines for school health;

c) independently conducting interventions aimed at the health of the school population;

d) planning and carrying out studies to evaluate relevant epidemiological aspects for public health within the territory;

e) intervening promptly in school settings for activities related to epidemiological surveillance and the containment of infectious diseases;

f) managing the administrative and financial aspects related to school health.

4 Furthermore, the Service is responsible for organizing and conducting vision and hearing screenings for the school population, managing the necessary data for the execution of this task. The health-related modalities of the screening are agreed upon with the Cantonal Medical Officer and in agreement with school doctors and specialist doctors.

1 The school physician carries out activities of protection, prevention, and health promotion within the school population, from a public health perspective.

2 The school physician is the reference physician for the schools assigned to him. He is required to guarantee the activities outlined in the job description and in particular

a) consultancy for the school authority and specialist services active in the school;

b) containment of transmissible diseases;

c) prevention and health promotion;

d) health-related training for teachers.

3 The school physician regularly follows specific updates concerning these tasks promoted by the Committee referred to in Article 11.

4 The Cantonal Physician may establish the modalities for carrying out the activities and confer other tasks.

1 The school doctor provisionally orders urgent health measures that he deems necessary to avoid serious and imminent dangers to the health of the school population and immediately informs the Cantonal Doctor.

2 The Cantonal Doctor will rule on these within the terms provided by law.

1 School doctors may be appointed from among medical practitioners authorized to practice independently in the Canton, holding a specialist title in pediatrics or general internal medicine, and demonstrating particular interest in the field of school medicine and public health.

2 Preferential qualifications include

a) knowledge of the Ticinese healthcare and school systems;

b) experience and diplomas related to developmental age, epidemiology, and public health.

3 In the event of equal requirements and preferential qualifications as stated above, priority will be given to the geographical location of the practice and/or proven rootedness in the territory.

4 The Department, following a public competition and consultation with the Cantonal Doctor, shall appoint twenty school doctors within the year following the cantonal political elections. The appointment typically has a duration of four years.

1 The Department, having consulted the Cantonal Doctor and the Divisions of the school and professional education, assigns school locations to the designated school doctors, taking into account an equitable distribution of the number of pupils, favoring territorial proximity and continuity over time where possible.

2 The Department assigns to each school location a substitute school doctor who can intervene in the absence of the titular school doctor.

1 School physicians form a College.

2 The College meets at least twice a year in Assembly; the Cantonal Doctor and the Head of Service are ex officio participants.

3 The College

a) elects a President and two Vice-Presidents at the first Assembly following their appointment;

b) discusses and approves the strategic guidelines and the activity report for school medicine;

c) may organize itself into interest groups to explore themes, propose activities and projects related to the present regulation and strategic guidelines;

d) expresses its opinion on proposals for amending the present regulation.

1 The President represents the Board to external institutions and bodies. The Vice-Presidents substitute the President in case of absence.

2 They are remunerated with an annual indemnity as follows

a) President: fr. 3,000.–;

b) Vice-President: fr. 2,000.–.

1 The Committee is composed of the President, the Vice-Presidents, the Cantonal Doctor, and the head of the School Health Service.

2 The Committee meets at least twice a year and convenes the College in Assembly.

3 The Committee

a) collaborates with the school authorities and with the Department;

b) defines the strategic orientations of school health and prepares an activity report;

c) organizes study and continuing education meetings;

d) ensures relations with school health services in other Cantons.

1 The Cantonal Doctor may, within the scope of the credits available in the annual budget, assign mandates for the execution of particular projects and for their evaluation.

**2 Likewise, the Cantonal Doctor may assign indemnities to school doctors for specific tasks, for training, further training, and continuing education requirements.**

1 The school physician is remunerated for the performance of their duties with a basic allowance and an hourly fee.

2 The remuneration is established as follows

a) basic allowance: fr. 2,000.– per annum;

b) hourly fee: fr. 180.–, with an individual annual maximum of fr. 15,000.–.

3 Participation in the Assembly is calculated at a flat rate of fr. 200.–.

4 The allowances and fees owed by the State to school physicians are calculated per school year based on the data provided by the school physician themselves to the Service at the end of each school year.

The Service provides for the invoicing and collection from the Municipalities of the contributions towards the expenses for the services of school doctors, as stipulated by Article 47 of the Health Law.

1 The Cantonal Medical Office oversees the application of the tariff and decides on disputes.

2 Appeals against decisions of the Cantonal Medical Office may be lodged with the Council of State.

The School Medicine Regulation of 23 September 1998 is repealed.

This Regulation shall be published in the Official Bulletin of Laws and shall enter into force on 1 July 2020.

Published in OB 2020, 60.