At its meeting of 19 June 2026, the Federal Council adopted the prioritisation of those measures under federal lead within the Primary Care Agenda (Agenda Grundversorgung), launched in 2024 to ensure continued access to high-quality primary care in Switzerland. Drawing on a technical report prepared in 2025 with some 80 stakeholders and comprising 18 measures in total, the prioritised measures respond to mounting pressure on the healthcare system (an ageing population, rising chronic illness and a worsening shortage of qualified staff) and focus on two fields of action.

The first aims to broaden the base of primary care and strengthen interprofessional collaboration, in particular by making better use of the competences of non-physician professionals. Prioritised measures include further developing the role of medical practice assistants (medizinischen Praxisassistentinnen und -assistenten, MPAs), improving medical and pharmaceutical care in nursing homes, and enabling people with acute health problems to obtain appropriate advice and treatment outside the family practice, for example in pharmacies.

The second focuses on attracting and retaining professionals in primary medical care through measures targeting education, training and working conditions. Under the lead of the State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI), options for increasing the number of study places in human medicine are being examined, alongside a report on the future of postgraduate medical training. Implementation begins this year and is expected to run until the end of 2028.

For more information, see here.