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<p>Healthcare professionals, doctors and opticians already play an important role
in the driver licensing process. They advise their patients of the implications of
their condition on driving and the effect of any treatment or medication and they
advise when a patient should notify the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA).
The DVLA will often correspond with a patient’s doctor, consultant or optician as
part of its medical investigations to determine fitness to drive. To support medical
professionals, the DVLA publishes advice entitled “Assessing fitness to drive: a guide
for medical professionals”.</p><p> </p><p>There are no plans to compel healthcare
professionals to notify the DVLA directly about a patient’s medical condition. However,
healthcare professionals can and do notify the DVLA where they are concerned about
a patient’s driving fitness. General Medical Council 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.</p><p> </p><p>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.</p><p> </p><p><strong> </strong></p>
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