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Full Spectrum Blood Tests before Doctors Clearance

A

apollo

Member
Messages
5
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
Has anyone been subject to having to undergo extensive blood tests before a doctor will certify fit for driving, for a normal drivers license, where the driver has been incident free for 30+ years, where two previous 3 year licenses were granted, there is no incidence of Hypos or otherwise.
would be very interested to hear of others exeprience of such treatment.
 
I'm not T1 so I can't share any personal experience about this.

I often think it's a good thing to have extensive blood tests because they can pick up issues before you get symptoms, which could be very helpful. Your doctor's decision may not be any reflection on your character or driving record - they might just be using updated guidelines, for example.

If a doctor certifies a person fit for driving and they then have an accident. and the cause is found to be a medical issue that the doctor didn't check for, they will get into a lot of trouble. They could be struck off and prosecuted.

If the testing does find an issue that could put you at risk, wouldn't it be better to know?
 
Depends what category of licence you are requesting.

As you mention 3 yearly I suspect it is just car license. In which case this is very, very rare to need extensive blood tests... Are they just blood tests for hba1c and perhaps fasting or to see 90 days of tests on your machine?

Some consultants (and the dvla) can be worried if a person declares no incidents of hypos when they are a T1. Ie is this meaning that you have not had any hypo's at all? Or that none have been assisted?
 

What are the extensive blood tests for, did they say?

Do you mean bg testing?
 
Urea & Electrolytes
Liver Function Tests
Lipids
Tyroid Function Test
Prostate Specific Antigen
Full Blood Count
ESR
Haemoglobin A1c

For a normal driving licence clearance ??? where it was cleard before on two occasions without all this.
 
apollo said:
Urea & Electrolytes
Liver Function Tests
Lipids
Tyroid Function Test
Prostate Specific Antigen
Full Blood Count
ESR
Haemoglobin A1c

For a normal driving licence clearance ??? where it was cleard before on two occasions without all this.
Click to expand...
Some of those seem a bit irrelevant to the question of fitness to drive. PSA is not very reliable for screening for prostate cancer. ESR is discouraged in NZ because CRP is a more appropriate marker for inflammation. Neither test would really tell the doctor much in this situation. This set of tests looks more like what would be used for an insurance medical.

Still, I don't think it will do any harm, except wasting some taxpayer money and causing unnecessary anxiety for you. If he wants to decline you for any reason, you would need to cross that bridge if you come to it. Is there an appeal process?
 
Did he clearly say that these tests were all being done for him to sign you as fit to drive?

Was the appt with him specifically for driving sign off and nothing else?

This concerns me as to why a PSA test would be relevent or any of the others besides the Hba1c....
 
To be honest, none of those show anything about fitness to drive - they look a lot more like a normal panel of tests a GP does for general fitness. Your test monitor's last three months of data are more relevant for driving.
 
Do you attend a hospital clinic for your diabetes? Maybe your GP is making some kind of point, as you don't attend his clinic. A bit silly as he'll have all the hospital's results.
 
GP does sound as if he doing normal tests..
The DVLA forms for a GP or consultant to sign off are mere tick boxes regarding diabetes.. Is patient hypo aware?
Many boxes are just name, address and birtthdate. There isn't anywhere on the form to write comments and certainly nothing regarding PSA etc.
I sat with my consultant when he completed mine after a driving incident.. He had to get a letter written to support me as it was purely a tick box.

Are you certain that your GP has been asked to sign you off for the DVLA? Normally they wouldn't ask to see you specifically if they had current bloods on file.
 

I made an appointment to see my GP giving plenty of notice, I said it was for a check up for a license renewal, Eyes. Feet, BP, clarifing my blood test methods, having my self test results available, etc but said they needed the blood tests first before confirming fit to drive, I cant see the relevance myself.
 

As you say we will come to that point, its all very over controling, my word seems to count for nothing.
 
Totally OTT.

Are you on insulin and are you under a consultant at hospital? If you are then just write the consultants name on the renewal form. If that is done they would write to the consultant anyway as the first port of call.
So often, unless they have reason to be doing spot checks from your answers they don't even write to anybody.
 
DVLA do not ask for blood tests at all just want to know you have no neuropathy, no hypos needing help and can fulfil they sight requirements.

Sounds asif it's just a general check by GP and nothing to do with dvla who probably wont write to your GP anyway.
 
Yes as you say, the essential checks, as relevant to Diabetes. Thanks for your comment.
 
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