How to make a complaint about the DVLA medical assessment process

Surprise Medical

Convicted Driver Insurance

sillysausage

New Member
Hi all,

I have been reading these amazing forums for ages, think I have read every post going haha. Anyway I have a query and I figured maybe there might be help here if I were to stop my incessant lurking!

My story is slightly different in that its involves a drug driving conviction but I think it links to alcohol. and might be relevant.

Long story short in late 2015 my wife, yet again, announced another affair and our marriage had to end. I took this hard as I had no option to leave the family home and my two young children for a while. I REALLY struggled with that and was shortly after prescribed the anti-depressant Mirtazapine.

A few weeks later I crashed into a pedestrian barrier. Police breathalysed me but I blew a zero which they were surprised (and annoyed) by. So they did the Field impairment test on my 14 times until I failed, arrested me, did the FIT in front a the FME at the station 11 more times then told me they required blood and of course found the anti-depressant.

Annoyingly my GP was absolutely convinced the AD couldn't have impaired my driving given the prescribed dose and thought I had blacked out due to not having eaten for 5 weeks, but without the estimated £6k defence costs for a solicitor and medical experts report I had no option but to plead guilty and so took the 12 month ban. In fairness I shouldn't have been driving anyway, albeit probably not for the reasons the police stated so I cannot grumble about that. The police also wrote to the DVLA saying they would remove my licence before I was banned by the court which they did. I thought this was normal but I realise now it was a medically unfit to drive thing so my licence was revoked by the dvla and I was then also disqualified.

Anyway, I went to my GP soon as they released me and he asked me about drinking. I very very foolishly I now realise said that for about a week immediately after I left my ex-wife I had drunk every night. I'm normally tee total and drink maybe once or twice a year at most but I said I drank a lot, for me as a non-drinker I meant that I had drank a full bottle of port over a week and thought that was probably not a lot really, but it was for me.

Anyway fast forward 12 months and my ban ended and 2 months prior I reapplied for my license. This raised the medical fitness issue and they spent 2 months writing to my GP and assessing the reply. I assumed there would be no issue, I haven't been to my GP since jan 2916 so nearly 17 months. He has obviously said I had told him I was having a problem with alcohol so now the DVLA are requiring me to have a medical assessment for fitness to drive! I'm assuming this is to check if I'm an alcoholic.

Does this seem normal and should I be worried. About 2 months ago I was drinking quite heavily, just for fun, not for weird or unhealthy reasons but I was knocking it back really. Probably going though a few bottles of vodka over a month. Stopped now but is this likely to show up in whatever tests they will want to do in this medical?
 
Are you taking any medication still?

the alcohol thing with your doctor may be a problem as his questionnaire for dvla may imply your dependant on the last evidence he has, then it's the 12 month abstinence process you have to go through.

when you go for your medical you will have to fill out your questionnaire, this will ask when you last had a drink, if you say more than 12 months ago and pass the CDT test there should not be a problem.

best ring dvla medical team and see if you can get them to tell you what medical condition you are being assessed for. Or ask your doctor

not much help, but I think you need to get a bit of clarity prior to your medical
 
splodger said:
when you go for your medical you will have to fill out your questionnaire, this will ask when you last had a drink, if you say more than 12 months ago and pass the CDT test there should not be a problem.
Click to expand...

oh wow this is scary!

I mean I drunk a tiny amount - it would be perverse for my GP to suggest I'm dependant based on the fact that I drunk a bottle of port 17 months ago surely!

So you think I need to lie on my questionnaire then? I have had a few beers here and there over the past year and a heavy week on that one occasion so there is absolutely no way I wont pass the CDT test, I haven't touched a drop since march but will they know that I have had some so if I say I haven't had any for 12 months will they think I'm lying?

This is crazy! I am really worried now! I'm not on any medication at all now
 
Thing is it's very blurred the definitions of misuse and dependence, but in your case you haven't been to see the doctor for over 12 months so he can't give a definitive answer for the last 12 months. So ultimately it may come down to your questionnaire as you will pass the CDT test.

i failed my first medical even though I hadn't drank for 7 months and passed the CDT test....they decided I was dependant and needed to be abstinent for 12 months which I had to do to get my licence back.

you can download the questionnaire off the dvla dirict gov site, that way you can fill it in appropriately before the medical.

also read the criteria for fitness to drive on there

remember dvla always go on the side of caution if you give them reasons to doubt.
 
Thanks Spoldger! You may have just saved me my driving licence then!

I would have spilled the beans thinking it was a perfectly clear situation and ended up having my licence withheld longer.

So what I will do is ill read the info you suggest and say I haven't had a single drink since say xmas 2015 so its long over 12 months ago, then answer everything else truthfully as I'm otherwise tee total and that, the absence of gp visits in the past year and the passed CDT test should give them no reasons to do anything further!

The only problem I can see is if I say I haven't drunk anything and they get blood results which suggest I have consumed alcohol with the past 12 months - do you think that is likely to be a problem?
 
The only test they do for alcohol is the CDT test.

have you got a date yet for your medical?

May be worth visiting your GP to say how well things are going for you. Stating you don't drink.
 
So cant the CDT test tell them if I have drunk alcohol in the past year? That's my worry, that it could, and so they would know I'm lying.

I am just waiting for the letter to come through, the DVLA told me they posted it last Thursday so should come this week.

I did go see my GP in case they wrote to them (which they did!) and explained everything but she just wrote on my file "Concerned about driving licence" which was super helpful! Not!
 
So I'm taking it you were banned for your overall mental health affecting your fitness to drive seeing as the there was no alcohol involved and the medication does not cause impairment?
 
That's right, suffering a psychological episode was the wording they used when they revoked, then the 12 month ban 4 months later
 
That's why this is so annoying really, I drank for about a week in October 2015, went to see my gp, told him that but just in general conversation, I went to see him for anti-depressants, but obviously he noted that in his stupid file, then I crashed whilst on the AD's.

So I'd blown zero at the scene, not really drunk either before or after that week, maybe once or twice a year for the past 5 years.

When they revoked they said I had to prove 3 months of good mental health which I assumed would be easy given I haven't seen my GP for ages, like 14 months about it, but all of a sudden I'm being sent for a DVLA medical and the only reason must be the GP's reference to alcohol that I can see which is ridiculous from my point of view as I drink less in a decade than many people drink in a week :)
 
Well tell them at the medical your very well now and haven't drank for over 12 months pass the CDT test. That's all you can do, it's just what GP has told them that can affect it otherwise.

when I was banned I was taking quetiapine a strong anti phsycotic, I was also detained for my own safety at one point....when it came to the medical they were only interested in alcohol even though I was still taking quetiapine.
 
This whole thing is crazy isn't it!

Well thanks Splodger, you have been very helpful and I'm glad you shared your experience as I think id have walked into a DVLA logic trap there.

So as far as the DVLA and their medical Dr are concerned I don't drink, I haven't drunk at all for 18 months and they cant prove otherwise.

Moral of the story...NEVER EVER tell your GP ANYTHING!
 
that's just it, your banned on medical grounds, hence having to take a medical. the only things they can go is a medical report from your gp, the cdt test, your medical questionnaire and the physical examination(which is very limited).

so tick all the right boxes and you'll be fine.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Enter code DRINKDRIVING10 during checkout for 10% off
Top