Swiss Review / February 2022 / No.1 15 mittee has suggested a different approach to get the ball rolling quicker: start investing in education and further training as soon as possible (as parliament unequivocally agreed) and just leave the remaining points to the Federal Council. New rules already established by parliament in line with a counterproposal to the initiative, governing when nurses can prescribe and invoice treatments themselves in future, should not be up for renegotiation either, say the referendum winners, adding that their introduction should not be delayed. The Social Democrats have submitted amotion to this effect. The Centre has not ruled out giving the motion its backing. One of its National Councillors, RuthHumbel (canton of Aargau), nevertheless toldRadio SRF that such a solution will also take time. “If everything goes well with this first, uncontroversial part, I can see the legislation coming into force in two to three years.” Not so fast, say the centre-right and right-wing parties. Parliament made compromises in order to get the authors of the initiative to step back, noted FDP National Voters back Covid-19 measures – again The electorate has endorsed the pandemic policy of the Federal Council and parliament for a second time, with 62 per cent of voters giving their backing to the Covid-19 Act, which governs things like the Covid-19 certificate requirement and financial support for businesses. The “Fifth Switzerland”was evenmore clearly in favour, with 68.5 per cent voting yes. Commentators said it was a vote of confidence for the government’s handling of the pandemic, after what was a fractious referendum campaign at times. The result was more emphatic than in June, when the Covid-19Act was first put to the people. The yes vote accounted for 60.2 per cent then. Switzerland is the only country in the world that allows people to vote directly on measures to curb the pandemic. The referendum on the Covid-19 Act came after numerous rallies against the measures, some of them violent. No drawing of lots to appoint judges The Justice Initiative was decisively rejected by 68.1 per cent of the electorate. All cantons said no to the idea of drawing lots in future to choose themembers of the Federal Supreme Court (FSC), with 65.3 per cent of Swiss Abroad also voting against. Political parties will therefore continue to influence the process of appointing FSC judges. Judges in Switzerland must belong to a political party, to which they pay an annual subscription fee. (ERU) Yes in almost all cantons Early opinion polls had shown that the public was very sympathetic to nurses’ demands, but no one was sure whether the proposal would achieve the necessary cantonal majority – often a stumbling block in plebiscites. But the initiative easily cleared this hurdle. All cantons voted in favour apart fromAppenzell Innerrhoden. Therewas a general consensus that healthcare reforms are necessary. More and more nurses are reaching breaking point. Many are leaving the profession early, often at a young age. HR departments are finding it hard to recruit people – the additional nurses that Switzerland’s ageing society will need in future. Without effective reforms, the shortfall in nurses is therefore likely to be around 65,000 by 2030, warn experts. Pandemic brought the situation into focus The “Strong healthcare” initiative, launched by the Swiss Professional Association of Nurses (SBK-ASI) back in 2017, also owes its resounding success to Covid. The media have reported extensively on the situation in hospitals and care homes, reminding the public of the job that nurses and carers do around the clock. Many people now realise that they or their loved onesmay also need looking after one day. The situationwithCovidworsened again in theweeks running up to the vote. Case numbers soared – just as reports of the newOmicron variant were about to come through. And by the time of the referendum, hospitals were saying they would probably soon have to resort to triage and make deeply uncomfortable life-or-death decisions on whom to treat. Esteem and appreciation “Inmoments like this, nurses demonstrate to each and every one of us how important they are,” said Health Minister Alain Berset on the day of the vote. The emphatic yes at the polls was a collective show of esteem and appreciation, he added. Nurses celebrated the result, with SBK-ASI Managing Director Yvonne Ribi (see “Top pick”, page 31) hailing public solidarity. Themeasures that had been passedwould help to address the nursing crisis, she said. “What we now expect from politicians is that they take our wishes seriously and act swiftly.” No time to lose Normally, the Federal Council would nowmake a proposal on how to implement the initiative. But the initiative com61 % Yes 39 % No The people gave a resounding yes to the strong healthcare initiative. The “Fifth Switzerland” vote was similar with 58 per cent in favour.
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