CAT/OP/CHE/CSPRO/1 62. Paragraph 75: The Subcommittee recommends that appropriate measures be taken to improve the physical conditions at the Zurich police station, particularly the introduction of natural lighting systems, heating, hot water and adequate ventilation. 63. Each cell in the police prison has a toilet and a washbasin with cold running drinking water. The showers have hot water. All cells are equipped with a large radiator whose temperature can be adjusted. Since the windows do not open, each cell has a ventilation system that brings in fresh air. Cell lighting has now been optimized by replacing the existing energy-saving lamps with brighter LED lamps. Major alterations are no longer economically viable because the current facility is due to be replaced, in April 2022, by a new prison located within the Zurich Police and Justice Centre. 4. Medical examinations 64. Paragraph 77: The Subcommittee recommends that all persons who are stopped and detained or subjected to custodial arrest have the right in practice, from the outset of the deprivation of liberty, to be examined by an independent doctor, of their own choosing if they so request. The findings of such medical examinations should be recorded and made available to the detainee and his or her lawyer. 65. The Federal Council takes the view that the right to be examined by a doctor, including a doctor of the detainee’s choosing, does not need to be formally guaranteed at the very outset of deprivation of liberty. It should be pointed out that this issue is not, strictly speaking, a matter of criminal procedure but rather an aspect of the right to personal liberty enshrined in article 10 (2) of the Constitution.11 Consequently, it does not seem appropriate to introduce a specific provision in the Code of Criminal Procedure or elsewhere. The free choice of a doctor cannot be absolutely guaranteed and is subject to the doctor’s agreement and availability and the requirement that there be no risk of collusion. In this regard, see also the reply to the recommendation contained in paragraph 45 of the Subcommittee’s report. 66. Paragraph 81: The Subcommittee is of the view that medication should, as far as possible, be prepared and distributed by qualified medical personnel. 67. In general and to the extent that resources permit, medication is prepared and distributed by specialized personnel, usually members of the medical service of the place of deprivation of liberty. 68. The authorities of the Canton of Vaud report that health personnel are responsible for the preparation of medication and the management of pharmacy stocks. They also entrust non-medical staff of police custody facilities with the distribution of medications; nurses make sure that non-medical staff have information on the name of the medication, general instructions, expected effects and possible side effects. Nurses also ensure that medications are accurately labelled with the patient’s name and cell number. The procedure is precisely regulated in a delegation document drawn up by the Correctional Medicine and Psychiatry Service. 69. Paragraph 83: The State party should ensure that the holding cell set aside for sick inmates at the Zurich police station, particularly those passing through on a regular and thus a predictable basis, is equipped with an armchair and a bed and has sufficient lighting and an adequate ambient temperature. 70. The authorities of the Canton of Zurich report that this recommendation has already been implemented. The police prison has two separate rooms designed as holding cells. 11 GE.21-03864 Federal Supreme Court decision 102 Ia 302, para. 2. 11