Doctors mistake on medical form to dvla

[stuart1973doncaster]

Hello all,i'm stuart and a type1 diabetic for 30 years hb1c 5.9, i recently recevied my usual 3 yrs driving license renewal forms which i filled in and went for my medical which was absolutely fine as i take great care of myself and the doctors is always impressed with me,anyway several weeks went by and i got my letter from dvla and what i thought was my new license but to my horror it had been revoked due to me not having any hypo awareness,i then as you can imagine couldn't believe my eyes and was shocked and confused by this as on my medical the doctor gave me the all clear etc.Anyway i rang dvla and they didn't really sound to bothered about this shocking position i was in ie-work personal life independance financial etc etc they just said to see my doctor which i did and showed him the form and he agreed there must have been a mistake and would support me in this matter,he suggested we wait for dvla to contact him and i refused as i demanded this to be sorted asap,while was was there i rang dvla back up and the person i got this time actually told me on one of the questions the doctor was asked was is stuart aware of hypoglycemia (question 9 i believe) and it turned out he ticked the no box instead of the yes one(fool) so for obvious reasons dvla did see me as a risk and took me off the road.Anyway i got the doctors receptionist to fax dvla right away that he had made a mistake and ticked the wrong box and to allow me to drive again asap as i urgently needed to drive.Dvla recieved the fax and after lots of calls i found out it was with there internal medical group and was been looked at but they just didn't seem to bothered about it,it was a simple error and evidence to back it up.So i thought give my local mp a call which i did and explained the matter and he was more than helpfull he said he could go to dvla and spk to people higher up and try and speed things up,amazingly he called me back later that day and said he was waiting on some senior contacting him back with an update and true to his word he called me back saying they had the information needed(the fax from my gp)and the bar on my license was lifted.The next day a complaints person from dvla contacted me to tell me i was free to dive again so i was overjoyed with this.All the stress and anxiety caused by my gp ticking the wrong box unbelivable.Just wanted to raise awareness to people and make sure your gp fills in the form correctly as knowledge is power.Next step a meeting with his practice manager to raise a formal complaint and to put forward my troubles etc

[noblehead]

That's great news you got it sorted Stuart but what a carry on

It's definitely worth a thank-you card to your MP to show your appreciation

[stuart1973doncaster]

Yes it was john mann of bassetlaw and was fantastic kept me updated and kept me in good spirits,i just wanted to raise awareness so it doesn't happen to others.

[noblehead]

Yes it was john mann of bassetlaw and was fantastic kept me updated and kept me in good spirits,i just wanted to raise awareness so it doesn't happen to others.

Well done John and thanks for bringing this to our attention Stuart. Just renewed mine last year so hopefully won't have the same problems as you when it comes up for renewal.

[iHs]

Hello Stuart

Am a tiny bit puzzled as to why your GP was contacted by the DVLA in the first place and also what info did your consultant give to your GP regarding your bg levels....... Do the DVLA ask for people to enter their hba1c on the form or what?

Am pleased that you got your licence sorted out ok again but just make sure that where driving a car is concerned that your bg levels never be allowed to drop below 5mmol throughout the journey............

[stuart1973doncaster]

You probably don't know this it seems but both the type1's and the doctor has to fill out a medical form asking questions relating to your diabetes and then returned to dvla where there internal medical group make a decision based on the info recived by the person and the doctor is given,in my case my doctor has ticked a box stating i don't have any hypo awareness when he should have ticked the yes i do box hence dvla takling me off the road as i pose an understandable risk to other drivers.I take my diabetes very seriously and work out 5 days a week and test my blood more than i should do hence my good control,so the answer to you been puzzled is yes dvla do write to your gp to make sure your fit to drive and have good hypo awareness etc,
Regards.

[iHs]

Hmmmmm worrying to say the least. Dont know what a GP can actually say on a DVLA form about whether someone has good awareness or not when they try to stipulate that type 1 diabetics only need to test their bg levels twice per day and that their hba1c levels are 6.5%. Makes you hopping mad and at the same time makes you laugh and realise just how ridiculous everything is starting to now become in the way the questioning is done.

[Lonicera]

This has just happened to me, and now that I've read other people saying virtually the same thing, I think the main problem is the form itself, which says "is the diabetic unable to recognise the signs of an impending hypoglycaemic attack" (or words to that effect), to which the doctor has to tick "No" - a double negative, and bad English. No wonder doctors in a hurry are getting it wrong. So why don't DVLA change their form? It's a disaster for me not to be able to drive - I live in the middle of nowhere and would have a 2 hour commute each way. I much appreciate other suggestions, and will certainly contact my MP if this isn't sorted quickly. Thank goodness for these forums.

[MaryJ]

Hi Lonicera

Welcome to the forum

I hope you get it sorted, i can't begin to imagine what a nightmare it must be for you

Mary x