Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will take steps to make it a requirement of medical professionals to inform the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency of someone who is medically unfit to drive.

Healthcare professionals, doctors and opticians play an important role in the driver licensing process. They advise patients of the implications of their condition on driving, the effect of any treatment or medication and when they should notify the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA).

There are no plans to make it a requirement for healthcare professionals to notify the DVLA directly about a patient’s medical condition. However, healthcare professionals can and do notify the DVLA when they are concerned about a patient’s driving fitness. The General Medical Council’s guidance states that while they must make every reasonable effort to persuade patients to inform the DVLA, doctors can notify the DVLA of a patient’s medical condition, in confidence, if the patient does not do so. Similar guidance is available to opticians.

To assist the medical profession, the DVLA has a specific form that can be used for this purpose and provides a dedicated telephone line which allows doctors to discuss concerns directly with one of the DVLA’s doctors. The DVLA treats notifications received from doctors and opticians as a high priority.