Fitness to drive, part 2

Part 2: the role of healthcare professionals

Summary:

In the second of a series of articles on fitness for driving, DVLA senior medical adviser Wyn Parry explains how fitness-to-drive decisions are taken, the role of healthcare professionals, and balancing the need to notify the DVLA where a patient refuses to disclose a relevant medical condition against the ethical duty to maintain confidentiality.

Part one of this series of articles on fitness for driving described the operational extent of the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency’s (DVLA’s) drivers medical group¹. The DVLA receives around 800,000 medical notifications a year and makes around 3,000 medical licensing decisions every day. The vast majority of these will be on single medical conditions and can be managed by staff from non-clinical backgrounds and against protocols drawn up by the DVLA’s medical advisers…

 

Dr Wyn Parry is senior medical adviser to the DVLA. His particular interests are in education relating to fitness to drive for healthcare professionals.

Author: Parry W

Tags driving fitness for work health and safety risk assessment

Occupational Health at Work February/March 2018 (vol. 14/5) pp20-23

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