Doctors and health care personnel sometimes encounter people whose physical, psychological or sexual integrity is endangered: through their own attitudes or those attributable to family members or people close to them. In such cases, professionals bound by medical confidentiality find themselves in a dilemma between the duty of confidentiality and the need to protect the vulnerable person.

Since 2019, the Civil Code enshrines the specific right of physicians to notify the Child and Adult Protection Authority (APMA, KESB or in Ticino ARP) without violating professional secrecy when it is in the best interest of the child. Some professionals even have a legal obligation to report in case of concrete indications of danger. A legislative amendment is being studied to extend similar rules to vulnerable adults. The competencies of the Protection Authority and the Criminal Authority (police/public prosecutor's office) are not always known to clinicians and health personnel, this leads to inappropriate professional practices.

The training day aims to clarify the rights and obligations of reporting to the Protection Authority, illustrate the practical consequences of a notice to the Protection Authority and a report to the police, and delve into the competencies and modes of intervention of the two authorities (Regional Protection Authority and Criminal Authority).

To whom it is addressed

Doctors, nurses, psychologists, all professionals in contact with vulnerable people, social workers and administrative staff of health and social facilities, lawyers and jurists.

Program

• 8:30 Reception
• 9:00 Institutional greetingsSaluti istituzionali
  Mariano Cavolo – Responsabile Formazione continua DAESS-SUPSI
  Avv. Franco Lardelli 
• 9:15 Le sfide dei medici confrontati a persone vulnerabili con il Dr. med. Franco Denti
• 9.45 Svincolo al segreto medico: tra procedure formali e realtà con il Dr med. Giorgio Merlani
• 10:15 Coffee break
• 10:30 Diritti e doveri di segnalazione in caso di messa in pericolo di un bambino: la posizione singolare delle persone tenute al segreto professionale con l'Avv. Dr. iur. Ersilia Gianella
• 12:00 Pausa
• 13:30 L’adulto bisognoso di protezione: diritti, ruolo e rischi della persona tenuta al segreto professionale , Avv. Federica dell’Oro
• 14:30 Autorità regionale di protezione e Autorità penali: competenze, modalità di lavoro, collaborazione e sfide delle Autorità, Avv. Siro Buzzi e Sebastiano Gysin
• 15:30 Coffee break
• 16:00 Plenary discussion, Avv. Reto Medici
• 16:45 Conlusion of the day

Speakers

• Siro Buzzi, Avvocato, Presidente delle Autorità di protezione 16, 17 e 18 sedi di Biasca, Acquarossa e Faido
• Federica Dell’Oro, avvocato, Giudice supplente alla Corte di appello e di revisione penale
• Franco Denti, Dr. Med., – Presidente Ordine dei Medici Canton Ticino
• Ersilia Gianella, Dr. iur, avvocato, docente presso CCTG SUPSI, docente alla Facoltà di diritto dell’università di Friburgo
• Sebastiano Gysin, Commissario capo responsabile Sezione dei reati contro l’integrità delle persone, Reparto Giudiziario 2, Polizia Cantonale.
• Franco Lardelli, Avvocato, già Presidente della Camera di protezione
• Reto Medici, Avvocato, già Magistrato dei minorenni
• Giorgio Merlani, Dr. Med., Medico Cantonale

More information

This training event replaces the usual public lecture and is an integral part of CAS Social and Health Law, an interprofessional training course offered every two years by the SUPSI Department of Business Economics, Health and Social Care.

Participation

Registration required by October 13, 2025.
Participation is free of charge.