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GPs reporting unfit to drive

There was a man campaigning for this. His wife was killed by an elderly driver, it left him with a very small son. Think I agree with it really.
 
It's fine provided human error doesn't get in the way. NHS + DVLA = sinking feeling :oops:
 
Its just for diabetics to be aware.. Especially those of us who have restricted licences that GP's can notify DVLA without informing patients.

Seems to go at odds to DVLA increasing the age limit from
70 to 75 years before reapplying.
 
I dislike this very much although i can see the flip side.

Basically a GP could destroy someone's life without worry of comeback. Not good.
 
Two views, good that it keeps us all safe on the roads and anyone who doesn't inform the DVLA about a problem that could effect their ability to drive deserves all they get, on the other-hand it just makes a bigger workload for our already over-worked gp's and may harm the Dr & patient relationship.
 
I think it's one of those things that is going to happen infrequently. If a GP or Clinic practitioner was to report someone with little evidence that they were a risk, they are likely to find themselves on the sharp end of a lawsuit.

As a result, HCPs are likely to apply a fairly significant standard of proof before they make such a call.
 
The so called new rules are not that much different than they are now.
A GP has to try all avenues to get the patient to give up driving if s/he deems them unsafe to drive and if this fails then s/he has to warn the patient he will be informing DVLA of his concerns.

This happened to a near neighbour who refused point blank to inform DVLA even though he had had 3 unexplained blackout with no recollection of them within a 2 week period. So GP told him he was going to report him and he did, thank goodness.
 
This has been reported on the BBC today, so hopefully a few more people than often happens will hear about it.
 
I like to think- hope at least- that any halfway decent doctor would talk to the patient before notifying the DVLA, even if they go ahead whatever.

Also, frankly, some of us really aren't safe to allow on the roads. I have no peripheral vison left, for instance- and find wlking tricky among crowds, let alone thinking of driving...
 
noblehead said:
Two views, good that it keeps us all safe on the roads and anyone who doesn't inform the DVLA about a problem that could effect their ability to drive deserves all they get, on the other-hand it just makes a bigger workload for our already over-worked gp's and may harm the Dr & patient relationship.
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I am in total agreement.
 
One of my worries having been ill recently was that I would have to stop driving. I can't manage well on public transport, or walk far. Had my doc told me I was not fit to drive, or indeed had I any doubts, the car would go.
The reason I am not able to walk very far is that many years ago I was in a collision caused by a driver who was not medically fit to drive, but nobody stopped him from doing so.
 
I don't see a problem with it. I see it as just clarifying what doctors should do. I imagine it wouldn't happen very often as most people understand that driving is a privilege and not some kind of inalienable right, and would self-report or simply stop driving of their own volition if they weren't safe.

Sorry to hear what happened to you @Pipp
 
azure said:
I don't see a problem with it. I see it as just clarifying what doctors should do. I imagine it wouldn't happen very often as most people understand that driving is a privilege and not some kind of inalienable right, and would self-report or simply stop driving of their own volition if they weren't safe.

Sorry to hear what happened to you @Pipp
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thank you azure
Ideally, people would self report.
In reality I see people, mainly elderly, but not exclusively so, defend their 'right' to drive, saying such things as "I only go to the local shops", or "I don't drive in the rush hour, and only take the car when the weather is bad". It hurts just as much being hit by a car near to a drivers home in the pouring rain.
How many of us drivers will take personal responsibility for our fitness to drive? It is something I think of every time I get behind the wheel. If at some stage I become oblivious to impaired ability I have given my family instructions to take the keys. I trust their judgement.
 
This seems a good idea in theory to protect the public from those that are deemed unfit to drive but have reservations as to exactly how it would work in practice...just wonder what criteria the GP will consider as being sufficient evidence .....also how will they know whether the patient has informed the DVLA if advised to do so....and how many people will avoid going to their GP with issues that may lead to them subsequently being reported as unfit to drive ....can see that it may help in more 'serious' cases where health problems are clearly defined and diagnosed and the fitness to drive question is clear cut but what about the grey areas such as the situation I am aware of where someone is just not following the rules of testing and driving....would this be deemed as reportable by a GP or only if blood sugar levels as recorded were low enough to result in hypos..what if recorded levels were always on the high side....
...it is only be looking into it myself that I have found there may be other reasons for other medical conditions other than diabetes that people should inform DVLA ...the A to Z list on their website is very comprehensive with many conditions that are notifiable that you wouldn't necessarily think of being so....peripheral neuropathy I think surprised me a bit as even though my partner has loss of feelings in hands and feet no 'official diagnosis' of this has been made as far as I am aware and certainly no mention has ever been made by a healthcare professional that he should be notifying the DVLA of this fact.....only the fact that he is now on insulin......how many people I wonder are actually unaware of what other issues they are required to report....
 
Molly56 said:
...the A to Z list on their website is very comprehensive with many conditions that are notifiable that you wouldn't necessarily think of being so....peripheral neuropathy I think surprised me a bit as even though my partner has loss of feelings in hands and feet no 'official diagnosis' of this has been made as far as I am aware and certainly no mention has ever been made by a healthcare professional that he should be notifying the DVLA of this fact.....only the fact that he is now on insulin......how many people I wonder are actually unaware of what other issues they are required to report....
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It's not down to the HCP it's down to the licence holder.
No feeling in feet means no can feel the pedals or actually know where his feet are so an emergency stop would be very difficult as would be accelerator control.
As your OH hasn't informed the dvla he does not have a valid driving licence or insurance. When your OH filled in the form for his new driving licence it does ask about neuropathy, so OP got his licence under false pretences, so not valid end of story.
 
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CarbsRok said:
It's not down to the HCP it's down to the licence holder.
No feeling in feet means no can feel the pedals or actually know where his feet are so an emergency stop would be very difficult as would be accelerator control.
As your OH hasn't informed the dvla he does not have a valid driving licence or insurance. When your OH filled in the form for his new driving licence it does ask about neuropathy, so OP got his licence under false pretences, so valid end of story.
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I appreciate the points made here but just wondered how many other people have been made aware that neuropathy is notifiable to the DVLA.....and at what stage of neuropathy should that be done....

...I know that annual foot checks are carried out to test for signs of neuropathy but has anyone been told that they should perhaps not be driving because of a loss of sensation in the feet....what if it is only a slight loss ....and how many people are referred on for further tests or official diagnosis of 'peripheral neuropathy'....to my knowledge my OH has not been officially diagnosed with this or told that he has it....just think it is something hidden on his medical records that the HCP has not highlighted as an official problem with his diabetes...
....how many other people are there out there in the same position...

....just to clarify the position here....I think that he has 'loss of sensation' rather than 'no feeling'.....but guess this is all on a sliding scale from total feeling to no feeling ....where he falls within that scale I don't know for sure and don't feel that this has necessarily been picked up on at any foot check or suggested that further investigation is required....think it is all a bit of a grey area and not enough guidance given....
 
You can get adaptations to your car if you have no feeling in your feet.
I do not know of any adaptations yet that can compensate for advanced retinopathy, or for effects of drowsiness due to effects of medications or high or low BG.
 
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