A Geneva inspector may inspect any room, consult any document linked to the institution's activity, then write a report and send observations in writing, requiring changes where needed. Expect questions on who is responsible, who works there and under which licence, how the record is kept, and how incidents and complaints are handled.
What the inspector may do
Geneva's regulation lets the competent authority inspect or have inspected any premises of a health institution to check that it complies with the law. The inspector may consult any document or item linked to the institution's activity, writes an inspection report, and sends observations in writing to the operator or the person responsible, requiring changes where needed.1 After building work, the authority checks that the licence conditions and the rules in force are met before it gives its opinion to the department.1 In Zurich, institutions are under the Gesundheitsdirektion's health supervision, and the Merkblatt reserves a visit to the institution or its sites before a licence is granted.23
Questions to expect, and what to show
| Question | What to show | Rule behind it |
|---|---|---|
| Who is responsible here? | The medical lead or médecin responsable, licensed, with a current job description | § 36 GesG, RISanté article 21 |
| Who works here, under which licence? | A current list of professionals with their cantonal licences | RISanté article 10 |
| How is the record kept? | Entries with author and date, changes detectable, kept 10 years | § 13 GesG, articles 53 to 57 LS |
| How are incidents handled? | Written incident reports with corrective and preventive measures | RISanté article 9, article 106 LS |
| How is hygiene managed? | The Hygienekonzept and how its use is checked | Zurich Merkblatt |
| How are medicines and narcotics handled? | Storage, records, and who is responsible | RISanté article 21 |
- Greet with the responsible person. The medical lead or médecin responsable meets the inspector and stays available all day.
- Have the file on one table. Licence, operating concept, staff list, procedures and the incident file, current and signed.
- Open records live. Let the inspector choose the patients. Show author, date and any change on screen.
- Answer from the record. Where a question can be answered by a record, show it rather than describe it.
- Write down every observation. Note what was asked and seen, so the written observations hold no surprises.
- Close each observation with an owner. Every change the canton requires gets an action, a name and a date.
- Date ______ Inspector ______
- Responsible person present ______
- Records opened ______
- Documents shown ______
- Observations made on the day ______
- Actions, owner and date ______
After the visit
If an institution does not put a situation right within the conditions and time the department sets, Geneva withdraws the licence, and a licence may be limited or withdrawn for serious or repeated failings in organisation or the quality of care.4 The commission de surveillance, the médecin cantonal or the pharmacien cantonal may warn, reprimand or fine an institution's operators and responsible people up to CHF 50,000.4
Questions
Who meets the inspector?
The person the canton holds responsible, the medical lead in Zurich or the médecin responsable in Geneva, ideally with the management.
Will we receive a report?
In Geneva, the inspector writes a report and sends observations in writing to the operator or the person responsible.
What if the canton requires changes?
Make them within the time the department sets. In Geneva, a situation left unremedied leads to withdrawal of the licence.
Sources
- 1République et canton de Genève, SILGENEVE, 2025Règlement sur les institutions de santé (RISanté), K 2 05.06, du 9 septembre 2020Read source
- 2Kanton Zürich, Zürcher Gesetzessammlung, 2026Gesundheitsgesetz (GesG) vom 2. April 2007, LS 810.1, in force from 1 January 2026Read source
- 3Kanton Zürich, Gesundheitsdirektion, 2024Merkblatt Betriebsbewilligung für ambulante ärztliche Institutionen, September 2024Read source
- 4République et canton de Genève, SILGENEVE, 2026Loi sur la santé (LS), K 1 03, du 7 avril 2006Read source
Written by the wai team from Cantonal health authorities of Zurich and Geneva guidance, checked on 16 October 2026. This is guidance, not legal advice. Neither the Zurich Gesundheitsdirektion nor Geneva's department of health endorses wai or any software.