Calls to end block on air-conditioning

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A Green-Liberal MP is pushing to break its taboo around air conditioning in hospitals and care homes, as the current heatwave strains nursing staff.

Patrick Hässig, who is also a nurse, says modern units have improved sharply and should be part of a wider package — alongside more green spaces, shading, and solar power. 

Care workers currently make do with fans, cold compresses, and closed shutters, but Hässig says high indoor temperatures are making concentrated medical work harder. 

Patients in shared rooms suffer the most. He is calling for an open debate, free of ideological constraints, on how to keep vulnerable Swiss residents safe in a warming climate.

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