Written to my GP.. Medical records haven't arrived.

Convicted Driver Insurance
Appointment in two days. Trying to prep myself as best as possible. Uphill struggle in front of me for sure. The more I look into it, the more I lean towards misuse rather than dependence. I hope my GP is pragmatic about the whole situation. Potentially marked as dependent by someone in hospital that asked a few questions. I just need to see exactly what information was used to diagnose the dependence because from what I've looked into, there isn't any clear guidance. I can tell you that it was misuse against the DVLA criteria so depending what's on my file, I'm hoping for an actual discussion. I mean, why get me in to go through the form if we're not going to discuss anything and he will just use my medical records? Here to hoping ?
 
Hi they use CAGE and or AUDIT to gauge your abuse if you never answered either of these then it's not a qualified judgement
 
Hi they use CAGE and or AUDIT to gauge your abuse if you never answered either of these then it's not a qualified judgement

Even then would it be in depth enough to diagnose dependence? I honestly can't remember what questions were asked etc. Which is what I'm most intrigued to see. If I did indeed answer those questions for someone to diagnose me then I guess I haven't got a leg to stand on but I still stand by my misuse thoughts. Time will tell..
 
Hey mantank if it's on your letter that's what they'll stick to I was labelled dependent in January then I challenged this with doctor and they changed it to misuse in April (meaning I could drink within government guidlines) therefore reducing my time off the road to 6 months, then they changed it to dependence again in October so in theory if I had confirmed to guidlines drinking at my latest medical i would of been off the road for another year, this is why I say to record your last drink with GP, when I told my GP this his answer was to go to court as you have my full support, they have the final decision our GP are just advisory according to their small print, so once again I am dependant and thats been diagonised by a doctor confirming I drank 3/4 cans of beer a night......is it worth going to court? misuse or dependence or just sit it out until you've served your time off the road to expensive anyway........
 
I do hope it goes well for you someone needs some luck around here, I've just about had it with them now on the verge of giving up,,
 
I do hope it goes well for you someone needs some luck around here, I've just about had it with them now on the verge of giving up,,
I have no real excuse for drink driving. October 2015 I was in an accident ('the morning after'). Someone ran into me and I was over the limit. Didn't drive after that as my car was a write off and I knew what to expect (2nd offence). Woke in a neck brace after the accident with a broken neck. Luckily I could still walk! I knew then that I had to move so I could still work. I commuted 70 miles each way! I moved within 2 weeks as that's all I was signed off for. It was within a month after that I was hospitalised and marked as dependent. I drank through boredom rather than needing to - I'd left everything behind, friends and family and I knew my licence was about to be taken from me. Could say depression too?

I won't go any further but my frustration is that I feel I would be in this position if it weren't for my ban in the first place.

Just let me reiterate the point that I know I shouldn't have been driving etc. I just feel I've already been punished enough.
 
So, an update as promised. I didn't sleep an awful lot last night and was incredibly nervous before my appointment. I explained the history behind my drinking, medical record, previous drinking habits and amounts. Long story short, he didn't see my previous 2025 issue as dependence, and also ticked no to misuse, even the misuse he reported last time which caught me off guard! So he's stated no misuse with a little explanation to suggest he reassessed me in conjunction with the rest of the information I supplied and that it wasn't right that I was diagnosed by someone other than my GP and was even annoyed that it wasn't clearly explained at the time. Slightly annoying as the whole process could have been done over a month ago, but it's very positive


So it seems that it may well be very good news for me after all! I know it's been said before but I guess the key thing is that anyone going through the process as a HRO maintains a good relationship with their GP. I'm still going to keep my fingers crossed though as I've felt good about the situation before but I'm sure all avenues of investigation must be done.
 
Called DVLA, case is with the DVLA managers to make a decision. Anyone know the steps? Do they deputies as such?
 
Hey mantank that's good news, when mine was with the managers it took 3 weeks for them to make a decision to licence me, I kept phoning at the end of each week, but was told with the managers, what I would say though this is very positive news because if they were going to refuse you it wouldn't of got this far, fingers crossed for you......
 
Hey mantank that's good news, when mine was with the managers it took 3 weeks for them to make a decision to licence me, I kept phoning at the end of each week, but was told with the managers, what I would say though this is very positive news because if they were going to refuse you it wouldn't of got this far, fingers crossed for you......

I think I'll just keep phoning them every other day. They say to not keep calling but and that they'll update me through the post but it takes 11 days for me to receive letters from DVLA! Plus, if they require even more info from my GP then it's another month to get an appointment.

My fingers are aching from being crossed! Thanks though mate.
 
Hey mantank that's good news, when mine was with the managers it took 3 weeks for them to make a decision to licence me, I kept phoning at the end of each week, but was told with the managers, what I would say though this is very positive news because if they were going to refuse you it wouldn't of got this far, fingers crossed for you......

Oh and the only reason I'd say they might want more info is because the latest forms stated no misuse or dependence whereas the previous stated misuse. They may want to understand the change..
 
Oh and the only reason I'd say they might want more info is because the latest forms stated no misuse or dependence whereas the previous stated misuse. They may want to understand the change..
I think the managers decide on what type of licence you get.....
 
I think the managers decide on what type of licence you get.....

Ahh I see! Last time it was 'passed to the managers' after being screened (and given the ok) as such it was at that point they wanted further info. Good thing is that I cannot find any evidence of any other forms they will want filling out.
 
Been checking all morning and nothing.. Thought I'd give it one last check before giving up..

10 year licence valid from tomorrow. I honestly can't tell you how over the moon I am! 4 years, 2 months and 6 days since I was last able to get behind the wheel of a car. All insured and ready to go!

Thanks for all the help over the last few months. Really appreciated!
 
That's fantastic news mantank soooo happy for you mate it's been a long time coming:)

As weird as it sounds, I was just thinking this morning about how good it would be if it were today.. Need to do a massive tip run ?. As trivial as it sounds, they're the most annoying times without a licence.
 
Been checking all morning and nothing.. Thought I'd give it one last check before giving up..

10 year licence valid from tomorrow. I honestly can't tell you how over the moon I am! 4 years, 2 months and 6 days since I was last able to get behind the wheel of a car. All insured and ready to go!

Thanks for all the help over the last few months. Really appreciated!
Brilliant news?
 
Just read your story ManTank. Really pleased you got there in the end and thanks for the really useful history. I'm hopefully towards the end of the journey as well now. Had all the medicals with GP and DVLA doctor, paperwork is with the DVLA. The only thing bugging me is a lack of LFT tests from the GP to back up my claim of being abstinent for the past 2 years following treatment for dependence. Am also HRO Fingers and toes crossed I'll get a positive result in the next few days/weeks. I have to stop myself from checking online every couple of hours.
 
Just read your story ManTank. Really pleased you got there in the end and thanks for the really useful history. I'm hopefully towards the end of the journey as well now. Had all the medicals with GP and DVLA doctor, paperwork is with the DVLA. The only thing bugging me is a lack of LFT tests from the GP to back up my claim of being abstinent for the past 2 years following treatment for dependence. Am also HRO Fingers and toes crossed I'll get a positive result in the next few days/weeks. I have to stop myself from checking online every couple of hours.
Hi ibble just wondering did you get your licence or are you still in the process ?
 
Hi ibble just wondering did you get your licence or are you still in the process ?
Got there in the end. The first blood test wasn't used because it was too late getting to the lab (Christmas post I think). So I went for another one and got my license a couple of weeks after that (mid-Jan). It's valid for a year so have to apply again at the back end of this year but really don't care - just happy to back on the road.

The one thing I would say to people is to keep ringing the DVLA for an update because the letters seem to arrive pretty consistently 8 days after they are dated. If I hadn't of phoned them and acted on what they told me over the phone instead of waiting for letters I would still be sitting here without a license.

The lack of liver function tests from my GP seemed in my case to be a non-issue.
 
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