Greetings all Petrol-Heads!
It has taken a long time, but it’s looking like my licence will shortly be returned to me – 15 months after it was revoked on account of a head injury.
It was supposed to be a 6-month ban only. But as a Type 1, it has been a very frustrating and long-drawn out affair. Thanks to a very helpful consultant and the FOI Act, I can now warn all you drivers out there, to hopefully avoid the problems I’ve had to endure.
When you get your forms from the DVLA to reapply for your licence (mine is every 3 years), the questions are quite clear. Question 7 asks: ‘During the last 12 months, have you had any disabling episodes of hypoglycaemia while you are awake which required help from another person?’ OK – no problems here. We can all understand and answer that. This is on the DIAB1 form – the one sent to you, the patient!
BUT there is a DIAB3 form sent to your doctor/s. The question you need to know about is No.3, of which part a) asks: ‘Does your patient have a history of recurrent disabling hypoglycaemia within the last 12 months (exclude any occurring during sleep)?’
There is a HUGE omission here – lack of clarity for our overworked and often non-native English speaking doctors. It does NOT state what constitutes ‘disabling’. (Personally I would call a hypo ‘disabling’ if it happened to a window cleaner while up a ladder, that resulted in a fall and a serious spinal injury… but that’s just my interpretation!)
The DVLA do not explain that by ‘disabling’ (also referred to as ‘severe’ in their Annex 3 to Directive 91/439/EEC rulebook) they mean ‘requiring the assistance of another person’. Nor do they state that ‘recurrent’ means more than once within 12 months.
Only after nine months of hassle, a second refusal to issue my licence despite my GP and consultant assuring me they had informed the DVLA they considered me ‘medically fit to drive’, did I find out what (and who) was to blame.
BOTH my GP and consultant had ticked ‘YES’ in reply to question 3a), which meant my own answer was at odds with theirs. I’m aware that it’s a criminal offence to knowingly give false information on DVLA forms, and the fact they refused my licence meant they had made me out to be a liar! So taking the bit between my teeth I resolved to get to the bottom of it.
The FOI requests supplied the answer. My consultant (bless him) not only telephoned the DVLA, but sent them a long letter to clarify that what he had put on the form was wrong – and that he had misunderstood the question (his first language is Polish). Mind you, my GP’s first language is English, and he’d made exactly the same error!
So – take this information to your GP. Send a copy to every doctor in the entire practice. When the DVLA say ‘disabling’ (or even ‘severe’) with regard to hypoglycaemia, they mean – ‘a hypo requiring the assistance of another person.’
May you all learn this lesson in time for your next licence application. Spread the word. I very much doubt the DVLA will clarify their questions for the sake of our medical professionals, so it’s up to each one of us to do the necessary and SHOUT IT FROM THE ROOFTOPS!!!
Yours (soon to be back on the road - she hopes), :roll:
Rose x
It has taken a long time, but it’s looking like my licence will shortly be returned to me – 15 months after it was revoked on account of a head injury.
It was supposed to be a 6-month ban only. But as a Type 1, it has been a very frustrating and long-drawn out affair. Thanks to a very helpful consultant and the FOI Act, I can now warn all you drivers out there, to hopefully avoid the problems I’ve had to endure.
When you get your forms from the DVLA to reapply for your licence (mine is every 3 years), the questions are quite clear. Question 7 asks: ‘During the last 12 months, have you had any disabling episodes of hypoglycaemia while you are awake which required help from another person?’ OK – no problems here. We can all understand and answer that. This is on the DIAB1 form – the one sent to you, the patient!
BUT there is a DIAB3 form sent to your doctor/s. The question you need to know about is No.3, of which part a) asks: ‘Does your patient have a history of recurrent disabling hypoglycaemia within the last 12 months (exclude any occurring during sleep)?’
There is a HUGE omission here – lack of clarity for our overworked and often non-native English speaking doctors. It does NOT state what constitutes ‘disabling’. (Personally I would call a hypo ‘disabling’ if it happened to a window cleaner while up a ladder, that resulted in a fall and a serious spinal injury… but that’s just my interpretation!)
The DVLA do not explain that by ‘disabling’ (also referred to as ‘severe’ in their Annex 3 to Directive 91/439/EEC rulebook) they mean ‘requiring the assistance of another person’. Nor do they state that ‘recurrent’ means more than once within 12 months.
Only after nine months of hassle, a second refusal to issue my licence despite my GP and consultant assuring me they had informed the DVLA they considered me ‘medically fit to drive’, did I find out what (and who) was to blame.
BOTH my GP and consultant had ticked ‘YES’ in reply to question 3a), which meant my own answer was at odds with theirs. I’m aware that it’s a criminal offence to knowingly give false information on DVLA forms, and the fact they refused my licence meant they had made me out to be a liar! So taking the bit between my teeth I resolved to get to the bottom of it.
The FOI requests supplied the answer. My consultant (bless him) not only telephoned the DVLA, but sent them a long letter to clarify that what he had put on the form was wrong – and that he had misunderstood the question (his first language is Polish). Mind you, my GP’s first language is English, and he’d made exactly the same error!
So – take this information to your GP. Send a copy to every doctor in the entire practice. When the DVLA say ‘disabling’ (or even ‘severe’) with regard to hypoglycaemia, they mean – ‘a hypo requiring the assistance of another person.’
May you all learn this lesson in time for your next licence application. Spread the word. I very much doubt the DVLA will clarify their questions for the sake of our medical professionals, so it’s up to each one of us to do the necessary and SHOUT IT FROM THE ROOFTOPS!!!
Yours (soon to be back on the road - she hopes), :roll:
Rose x
