Medication/insulin and taxi driving

[master82]

Hello everyone,
Hope you all are well.
I'm type 2 I'm on metformin 500mg 4 times a day. Gliclazide twice a day at 80mg. And dapaglifozin 10mg once a day. Dnt think they are working for me any more. What's the next bes thing for me. I've been told if I go on insulin I could lose my job as a taxi driver. Can anyone help with best medication?? And job will I lose my job.
Thanks everyone.

 

[Zilsniggy]

Hello everyone,
Hope you all are well.
I'm type 2 I'm on metformin 500mg 4 times a day. Gliclazide twice a day at 80mg. And dapaglifozin 10mg once a day. Dnt think they are working for me any more. What's the next bes thing for me. I've been told if I go on insulin I could lose my job as a taxi driver. Can anyone help with best medication?? And job will I lose my job.
Thanks everyone

I don’t think you can be sacked from your job if you go on insulin. It’s likely that as a diabetic, this is a characteristic covered by the Equality Act 2010, so really it means that your company has to make ‘reasonable’ adjustments for you. Regular meal breaks etc. Not sure what your licence requirements are, I think they’re covered by Local Authority and there are variations. You’d need to be able to demonstrate you have good control, usually this is done through showing 3 months’ readings in target. Most meters have decent memories and will hold that many readings. If you can meet the requirements health-wise, there really isn’t a reason why your licence should be refused. You DO need to notify DVLA if you start insulin, though. But I’m no expert, worth checking with DVLA.

 

[master82]

I don’t think you can be sacked from your job if you go on insulin. It’s likely that as a diabetic, this is a characteristic covered by the Equality Act 2010, so really it means that your company has to make ‘reasonable’ adjustments for you. Regular meal breaks etc. Not sure what your licence requirements are, I think they’re covered by Local Authority and there are variations. You’d need to be able to demonstrate you have good control, usually this is done through showing 3 months’ readings in target. Most meters have decent memories and will hold that many readings. If you can meet the requirements health-wise, there really isn’t a reason why your licence should be refused. You DO need to notify DVLA if you start insulin, though. But I’m no expert, worth checking with DVLA.

Hi,
Thankyou for your response to my msg. All I know is my boss said if I start taking insulin there policy is that we can't have workers on on insulin. Its our policy. Also I've got a hgv license. There is alot at risk to lose.

 

[master82]

Hi,
Thankyou for your response to my msg. All I know is my boss said if I start taking insulin there policy is that we can't have workers on on insulin. Its our policy. Also I've got a hgv license. There is alot at risk to lose.

 

[master82]

As anyone heard of this before

 

[Zilsniggy]

Hi,
Thankyou for your response to my msg. All I know is my boss said if I start taking insulin there policy is that we can't have workers on on insulin. Its our policy. Also I've got a hgv license. There is alot at risk to lose.

They can’t have a policy like that, I’m pretty sure that’s direct discrimination, and highly illegal. Better to check first with DVLA. I have a feeling that it may be extra cost to them because diabetic drivers on insulin generally have time restricted licences(Often renewed 3 yearly) There may also be restrictions on HGV licences, but unsure of those.

 

[AbiSwin]

As anyone heard of this before

Looks to me like they're talking about bypass surgery and GLP-1 Ihibitor which is semaglutide/liraglutide.

However, their policy is discrimatory so do check that out.

And

Beware of surgery abroad, there have been some recent reports of the efficacy and safety of this.

 

[master82]

Thankyou everyone for taking your time to respond to me. Just not sure what the next step is really.

 

[Hufty]

I don’t think you can be sacked from your job if you go on insulin. It’s likely that as a diabetic, this is a characteristic covered by the Equality Act 2010, so really it means that your company has to make ‘reasonable’ adjustments for you. Regular meal breaks etc. Not sure what your licence requirements are, I think they’re covered by Local Authority and there are variations. You’d need to be able to demonstrate you have good control, usually this is done through showing 3 months’ readings in target. Most meters have decent memories and will hold that many readings. If you can meet the requirements health-wise, there really isn’t a reason why your licence should be refused. You DO need to notify DVLA if you start insulin, though. But I’m no expert, worth checking with DVLA.

You can’t hold a PSV or HGV licence if you are diabeti, don’t know if you need a PSV licence to drive a taxi but if you do you will lose that element of your licence. There’s lots of jobs you can’t do can’t be front line Police officer, Fireman etc

 

[Zilsniggy]

You can’t hold a PSV or HGV licence if you are diabeti, don’t know if you need a PSV licence to drive a taxi but if you do you will lose that element of your licence. There’s lots of jobs you can’t do can’t be front line Police officer, Fireman etc

Think this needs to be checked with proper authorities as it has changed.

 

[Zilsniggy]

You can’t hold a PSV or HGV licence if you are diabeti, don’t know if you need a PSV licence to drive a taxi but if you do you will lose that element of your licence. There’s lots of jobs you can’t do can’t be front line Police officer, Fireman etc

Equality Act changed a lot of this, as policies were discriminatory.

 

[lovinglife]

@master82 I’m not very knowledgeable on this as I don’t drive, but here is a link to the page on the our website that may make things a bit clearer for you

Having diabetes doesnt stop you from driving a taxi although it may prevent you from driving large passenger carrying vehicles (PCVs). There is currently a blanket ban for diabetics driving emergency vehicles.

Having diabetes can make it more difficult to drive large passenger carrying vehicles (PCVs), especially if you are treated with insulin. People who are able to demonstrate good diabetes control are eligible to drive large PCVs. While insulin users may be discouraged from driving emergency...

www.diabetes.co.uk

 

[Zilsniggy]

Hello everyone,
Hope you all are well.
I'm type 2 I'm on metformin 500mg 4 times a day. Gliclazide twice a day at 80mg. And dapaglifozin 10mg once a day. Dnt think they are working for me any more. What's the next bes thing for me. I've been told if I go on insulin I could lose my job as a taxi driver. Can anyone help with best medication?? And job will I lose my job.
Thanks everyone.

I’d not get too worried, as there are literally dozens of medications now for diabetes. The one main thing you can do to bring down your sugars, is to sort your diet out. Low carb eating is definitely the way to go, before you think about starting insulin. If you think your job depends on it, I’d definitely try this first.
Also, as I said, your local authority is in charge of licensing for drivers, and medical standards. Perhaps contact them with any queries you have.
There’s a full book of standards on DVLA website, but it’s for medical professionals and full of jargon.

A small excerpt, see image

 

[Zilsniggy]

Thankyou everyone for taking your time to respond to me. Just not sure what the next step is really.

1. Next step….get PROPER info on where you stand, rights, etc.
2, You haven’t gone on insulin yet, so you may be worrying about something that might not happen.
3. Learn about low carb eating, lots of people have really improved their diabetes through the Low Carb Programme.
4. Try the programme, but since you’re on medication, watch out for hypo symptoms. It would be worth getting a blood glucose meter and actually testing, so that you’re aware of the effects Food has on your sugars(I’d assume, as a Group 2 driver, that you should be doing this already, and that you’ve notified DVLA that you’re being treated with tablets for your diabetes)
5. Stick to eating low carb and you may never have to go on insulin.
6. Worry about Insulin if you actually need to go on it.
7. Good luck.

 

[Janinea]

Hi,
Thankyou for your response to my msg. All I know is my boss said if I start taking insulin there policy is that we can't have workers on on insulin. Its our policy. Also I've got a hgv license. There is alot at risk to lose.

Policy DOES NOT supersede law. By law under the Equality Act 2010 an employer MUST make reasonable adjustments for a person suffering from a long term illness or disability. Diabetes falls into this category.

 

[nailchewer]

I don’t think you can be sacked from your job if you go on insulin. It’s likely that as a diabetic, this is a characteristic covered by the Equality Act 2010, so really it means that your company has to make ‘reasonable’ adjustments for you. Regular meal breaks etc. Not sure what your licence requirements are, I think they’re covered by Local Authority and there are variations. You’d need to be able to demonstrate you have good control, usually this is done through showing 3 months’ readings in target. Most meters have decent memories and will hold that many readings. If you can meet the requirements health-wise, there really isn’t a reason why your licence should be refused. You DO need to notify DVLA if you start insulin, though. But I’m no expert, worth checking with DVLA.

I recently commenced on Humulin N3 from Victoza. Notified DVLA immediately - had a reply in one week to say i could continue to drive and to notify them if any change to my current circumstances or prescription. The process was simple and clear. No extra premium with insurances either.

 

[lovinglife]

Policy DOES NOT supersede law. By law under the Equality Act 2010 an employer MUST make reasonable adjustments for a person suffering from a long term illness or disability. Diabetes falls into this category.

The key words in this are “reasonable adjustments” as we haven’t seen the local authority policy that will apply to OP question, reasonable adjustments may have already have been made within the policy. The best advice is for @master82 to contact his local authority and discuss it with them

 

[AbiSwin]

You can’t hold a PSV or HGV licence if you are diabeti, don’t know if you need a PSV licence to drive a taxi but if you do you will lose that element of your licence. There’s lots of jobs you can’t do can’t be front line Police officer, Fireman etc

I'm sorry, but this is disinformation, on a case why case basis you can be a firefighter or police officer.
There is also no blanket ban on diabetics on insliun driving hgvs, blue light vehicles, PCV etc, but you will need to prove stability and control on insulin.