Hi guys DVLA looking to change medicals these will only be allowed to be carried out by your OWN doctor as of next year 2013 due to drivers not telling the full truth about medical history or problems
The reason I and many others choose to use other doctors is because of the massive difference in cost. GP £150 v Other £65.
Your own GP is only aware of conditions that you tell them about, if you choose not to tell your own GP then the result is the same.
I know the idea has been mentioned (a customer who was in VOSA told me a couple of years ago that this would eventually happen) but I haven’t seen anything with definite dates of when the changes are likely - have you got any links? I’m due for my medical next year - already working on getting my weight down 
- but it would be nice to have the option rather than being forced to pay the £120 or whatever.
Not all GPs charge the £120 for one, I went to my own local Drs and he charged me £20 as a donation to a charity for my medical.
lemmy:
Not all GPs charge the £120 for one, I went to my own local Drs and he charged me £20 as a donation to a charity for my medical.
I appreciate that but where there is only one surgery in an area the the rules of supply and demand apply and they can charge what they like. If the rules change and you have to go to your own GP then I can see charges going upwards.
Another cost to bear just to work. I had to go to occupational health at the company’s request once - got the shock of my life when it turned out to be my own bloody GP doing non NHS work!
I never used him for my HGV medical on the grounds of cost (£125) and funnily enough neither did the firm.
Just goes to show that where there is money to make the ruling classes always find it! And as usual it’s compulsory and unavoidable.
Roll on retirement - you young 'uns can have my job I’m done!
Oh! And he is no longer my GP!
If the government had not made such a pigs ear of the NHS national database then all the information DVLA want would have been on it. As it is not only do we have to pay for a failed system, that cost over £10 billion, but have to pay additional costs just to carry on working.
In my case to pay for my GP to do the medical I would have to work 25 hours as opposed to the other GP at 10 hours.
Fudge001:
Hi guys DVLA looking to change medicals these will only be allowed to be carried out by your OWN doctor as of next year 2013 due to drivers not telling the full truth about medical history or problems
Hi Fudge001,
Could we have a link to the source of this info please??
I’ve just had a quick look at the .gov website for LGV medicals, but I couldn’t see any mention of what you’ve said.
It simply says: “ask a doctor to complete the D4 form”
Renewing entitlement on direct.gov website
The D4 medical form simply says: “To be filled in by the Doctor.”
Medical form on direct.gov website
The direct.gov website does say that the rules are changing as from 19th January 2013, but again, there’s no mention of your own GP having to carry out the medical.
New driving licence validity periods on direct.gov website
on my self assessment tax return I claim as an allowable expense:
doctors fee £120
loss of one days earnings £100
travel to surgery £5
I’m sure none of us want to risk unfit drivers on the road. The survey shows one third of drivers are over 50. While drivers in thier twenties may be safe after working for 14 hours, I don’t beleive that old men are. Me 65
newforest.gov.uk/committeedo … R07295.pdf
I get the feeling that the GP issue is referring to the TAXI drivers medical as that is the only proposal I could find
Nice earner 120 quid for ten minutes work…pee in that…please read the chart from the top etc, prices vary so much up and down the country there should be a set fee after all its compuslary, as a driver you cant just demand what you want and quote a figure of the top of your head…we wouldnt get far.
My last medical for licence upgrade, phoned my own GP - wanted a 3 hour appointment set up at a cost of £450 + vat…!!
I asked why - was told that an LGV medical requires a full medical, samples, tests & assessments so that the Doctor can give a full & clear picture of my health to the DVLA, and this takes 3 hours to complete. I pointed out that as my Doctor he is already fully aware of my (clean) medical history and any ops (key-hole surgery on one knee & the snip) etc that I have had so I feel i’m being ripped off. The reply was, it’s the Dr’s practicing licence, reputation & insurance that is at risk if he misses something.
I’m correct weight for my height.
I still fit in the same size jeans that I did 20 years ago
I don’t smoke
I don’t drink
I had it done two days later by a Doctor arranged over the net for £55 - took 20 minutes.
If the Gov make it a rule that you have to use your own Doctor, that’ll remove competition and become a licence for them to print money and we’ll all get ripped off…!
I’m taking this with a pinch of salt at the moment.
Well Fudge001, it’s over to you for a link please…
Its not down to DVLA- that would be a DFT decision - and the response today was from the DFT press department was …
Not that we know of but will look to see if there are any proposals along those lines
so wait and see… but we may have just given them an idea.
There was a study done a few years ago and they found that there were issues and one of the suggestions was this;
dft.gov.uk/dvla/medical/medi … eport.ashx
dft.gov.uk/dvla/medical/medi … wofdm.aspx
Medical practitioners — doctors would have better access to advice and, when assessing Group 2 drivers, be required to check the patient’s medical notes.
3.3 Group 2 Drivers
To drive a lorry or bus, a driver must hold a valid Group 2 licence — also referred to as a VOC or Vocational licence. Because of the increased consequences of an accident involving such vehicles and the increased amount of time spent behind the wheel, Group 2 licence holders must meet higher medical standards than Group 1 drivers. These are also set out in the Motor Vehicles (Driving Licences) Regulations and DVLA’s ‘At a Glance’ guide.Applicants for a Group 2 licence are required to submit a medical assessment completed by a doctor confirming their medical history and including the results of tests on their eyesight and, if there is evidence of heart problems, their cardiovascular system. Doctors charge a fee for this service which makes it the only part of the current process that applicants pay for (even here they can often recover the cost from their employer). There is no requirement for the medical to be conducted by the driver’s GP or that the doctor should have access to the driver’s medical records.
This means that episodic conditions can be easily missed and a number of GPs and Group 2 drivers commented on this weakness to us.
Group 2 licences expire at age 45 at which point the driver must re-apply by the same process. From age 45 to 65, licences are valid for five years and, after this point, the licence must be renewed annually. Under the proposed 3rd European Directive, Group 2 licences may only be valid for 5 years below age 45 as well.
There has already been much talk about bringing in 5 year medicals for all vocational drivers.
If you look at the blue highlight, you will see it was a lorry driver who suggested this change
Wheel Nut:
There has already been much talk about bringing in 5 year medicals for all vocational drivers.
In the 70s and early 80s, didn’t we have a three year HGV licence renewal period ■■
dieseldave:
Wheel Nut:
There has already been much talk about bringing in 5 year medicals for all vocational drivers.In the 70s and early 80s, didn’t we have a three year HGV licence renewal period ■■
Not too sure as I passed mine in 1982 & I’m pretty certain it was for longer than 5 years.
From next year all new/renewed licences are only going to be valid for 5 years so it wouldn’t be difficult for them to add a medical requirement rather than just a ‘Yes I’m fit to drive’ statement. http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Motoring/DriverLicensing/DG_201207
tallyman:
From next year all new/renewed licences are only going to be valid for 5 years so it wouldn’t be difficult for them to add a medical requirement rather than just a ‘Yes I’m fit to drive’ statement. http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Motoring/DriverLicensing/DG_201207
It would not surprise me if the EU made that a requirement in years to come
They were issued by the Traffic Commissioners and valid for three years. This changed in the early nineties to the DVLA.