How many use a different doctor than their own and if so have you had any queries. I have a family friend who is now a locum but doesn’t have full access to my records. I see the new form asks this and who your regular GP is. Does using another doctor look bad at DVLA?
McPlod:
How many use a different doctor than their own and if so have you had any queries. I have a family friend who is now a locum but doesn’t have full access to my records. I see the new form asks this and who your regular GP is. Does using another doctor look bad at DVLA?
As long as the Doctor is a legitimate Doctor, then there is no problem. Go to your own Doctor and pay a fortune. IIRC you have a box on the medical form to tick, this allows full access to your medical records if the authorities require this.
Thanks. Yes that’s correct. Just wondered if they routinely checked as this seems different from last time not that I have anything to hide
Many use other doctors than their own as its sometimes cheaper , some do it because they have something to hide that their own doctor would flag up . Its a known practice and the DVLA are aware of it . I’m lucky in that my own doctor dosen’t charge an arm and a leg as I’m now on 3 year renewal - the forms just dropped threw the door this morning . I work hard to keep my Diabetes under control , regular blood tests and try my best to exercise and follow the daibetic nurse’s recomendations - I see others who I know have the same diagnosis as I have and wonder how they get away with it .
beefy4605:
Many use other doctors than their own as its sometimes cheaper , some do it because they have something to hide that their own doctor would flag up . Its a known practice and the DVLA are aware of it . I’m lucky in that my own doctor dosen’t charge an arm and a leg as I’m now on 3 year renewal - the forms just dropped threw the door this morning . I work hard to keep my Diabetes under control , regular blood tests and try my best to exercise and follow the daibetic nurse’s recomendations - I see others who I know have the same diagnosis as I have and wonder how they get away with it .
Aged 75 I’ve finally given up my HGV licence, since 2012 I’ve had to renew every year. My own doctor wanted £120 ten years ago so heaven knows what he will be charging now! I used the same outside doctor for every renewal since age 65, it cost me £50 per year until 2021 when it increased to £55.
I’ve never had any bother with the DVLA , in fact my licence always came back to me in under three weeks. Regards Kev.
I asked my doctor for a list of medication I’m on and they gave me a complete medical history (6pages long) and I went to a private Doctor. She took 5 minutes to read through it, filled out my form and asked me a few questions and 2 weeks later a nice shiny new licence landed at my door. Saved me £60 because my own Dr wanted £150 but private Dr was £90
Sad to say that the reason for the inflated GP prices for medicals is probably the fact that the practice managers and / or the GPs themselves are so out of touch that they think that in all cases the invoice is submitted to the driver’s employer for reimbursement. Thus they believe that industry is footing the bill and can afford it.
My own personal experience was not being told the price before the medical (told it depends on what is required) and then being told it was £110 or so flat rate upon returning to the front desk after the medical had taken place (and that it MUST be paid with cash). I personally chose the avenue of saying they could keep the medical form or accept £50, which was duly accepted.
I pay £55 since I was 65…just paid 55 I am now 74…I did have what looked like a problem 4 years ago I told the doctor the details ,licence held up for a little while but no problem getting now .I think the NHS doctors are missing a trick here because they have the case history in most cases .I explained to my doctor and I said I will pay £70 but they said they could not and it would be 125 at the time I do not know what it is now …but I am happy 
robbo99.:
McPlod:
How many use a different doctor than their own and if so have you had any queries. I have a family friend who is now a locum but doesn’t have full access to my records. I see the new form asks this and who your regular GP is. Does using another doctor look bad at DVLA?As long as the Doctor is a legitimate Doctor, then there is no problem. Go to your own Doctor and pay a fortune. IIRC you have a box on the medical form to tick, this allows full access to your medical records if the authorities require this.
Your own doctor will probably charge you full cost of the medical (£120 the last time for me), but will also give you a full MOT while you’re there. I didn’t see any medical person from one HGV medical to the next. So seeing my own doctor, asking about any “this little thing that’s a bit of a concern” type of thing, was good.
If you go to an HGV Medical doctor, they’ll charge you about half the full rate. But the only thing they’ll do is ask the form questions, tick/fill in the appropriate box and sign the form. Any questions you might have will be answered by, “go see your GP”.
So it’s up to you. Pay more for a full MOT, or pay half to get a form completed.
The problem is Simon that if I had deducted from my wages every week money for my MOT I’d be a tad upset if the garage then attempted to charge me full price for my MOT.
Simon:
robbo99.:
McPlod:
How many use a different doctor than their own and if so have you had any queries. I have a family friend who is now a locum but doesn’t have full access to my records. I see the new form asks this and who your regular GP is. Does using another doctor look bad at DVLA?As long as the Doctor is a legitimate Doctor, then there is no problem. Go to your own Doctor and pay a fortune. IIRC you have a box on the medical form to tick, this allows full access to your medical records if the authorities require this.
Your own doctor will probably charge you full cost of the medical (£120 the last time for me), but will also give you a full MOT while you’re there. I didn’t see any medical person from one HGV medical to the next. So seeing my own doctor, asking about any “this little thing that’s a bit of a concern” type of thing, was good.
If you go to an HGV Medical doctor, they’ll charge you about half the full rate. But the only thing they’ll do is ask the form questions, tick/fill in the appropriate box and sign the form. Any questions you might have will be answered by, “go see your GP”.
So it’s up to you. Pay more for a full MOT, or pay half to get a form completed.
But the “this little thing that’s a bit of a concern” can be checked out at a GP appointment along with blood tests and the like for free. My last medical, along with going over the medical form I had filled in included testing my eyesight with the Snellen chart and my blood pressure taken and recorded.
I’m not being facetious here but seeing the state of some truckers, the medical can’t have such high standards, I mean I’ve seen morbidly obese trucker’s, a one armed trucker, a trucker that had to use a wheelchair whilst out of his cab and a trucker with lenses on his glasses thicker than the bottom of the old glass coke bottles.
Think I will stick to my £50 bargains.
robbo99.:
Simon:
robbo99.:
McPlod:
How many use a different doctor than their own and if so have you had any queries. I have a family friend who is now a locum but doesn’t have full access to my records. I see the new form asks this and who your regular GP is. Does using another doctor look bad at DVLA?As long as the Doctor is a legitimate Doctor, then there is no problem. Go to your own Doctor and pay a fortune. IIRC you have a box on the medical form to tick, this allows full access to your medical records if the authorities require this.
Your own doctor will probably charge you full cost of the medical (£120 the last time for me), but will also give you a full MOT while you’re there. I didn’t see any medical person from one HGV medical to the next. So seeing my own doctor, asking about any “this little thing that’s a bit of a concern” type of thing, was good. We should accept the drivers medical for what it is, a box ticking execise the same as the DCPC.
If you go to an HGV Medical doctor, they’ll charge you about half the full rate. But the only thing they’ll do is ask the form questions, tick/fill in the appropriate box and sign the form. Any questions you might have will be answered by, “go see your GP”.
So it’s up to you. Pay more for a full MOT, or pay half to get a form completed.
But the “this little thing that’s a bit of a concern” can be checked out at a GP appointment along with blood tests and the like for free. My last medical, along with going over the medical form I had filled in included testing my eyesight with the Snellen chart and my blood pressure taken and recorded.
I’m not being facetious here but seeing the state of some truckers, the medical can’t have such high standards, I mean I’ve seen morbidly obese trucker’s, a one armed trucker, a trucker that had to use a wheelchair whilst out of his cab and a trucker with lenses on his glasses thicker than the bottom of the old glass coke bottles.
Think I will stick to my £50 bargains.
robbo99.:
But the “this little thing that’s a bit of a concern” can be checked out at a GP appointment along with blood tests and the like for free. My last medical, along with going over the medical form I had filled in included testing my eyesight with the Snellen chart and my blood pressure taken and recorded.I’m not being facetious here but seeing the state of some truckers, the medical can’t have such high standards, I mean I’ve seen morbidly obese trucker’s, a one armed trucker, a trucker that had to use a wheelchair whilst out of his cab and a trucker with lenses on his glasses thicker than the bottom of the old glass coke bottles.
Think I will stick to my £50 bargains.
A GP appointment can only be made first thing in the morning, for that day, at my surgery.
I can’t take a day off to do that. I leave the yard on Sunday morning and catch the ferry to Holland. I catch the Wed night ferry home from Holland and get home Thursday evening, provided the week goes more or less as planned. It might be Friday evening when I get home, although that’s rare.
So I can’t even try to make an appointment for next Friday, because there’s no guaruntee I’ll make it. We don’t have enough UK work for me to have a day off, then work the other days of the week. That means I have to make normal GP appointments on Fridays, if possible, or take a weeks holiday, or fit it into a weeks holiday.
My 5 yearly medical I can make an appointment in the future for. So I do it that way. Pay for a private consultation to do my DVLA Medical, it isn’t an NHS medical so it isn’t free from the NHS, and have a full MOT while I’m there, which is free on the NHS.
I’m 63, between 80 - 85 kilos (around 13 stone) and 6’ tall. I did the Edinburgh Kiltwalk Mighty Stride again this year, only 21 miles this time, in 6 hrs 6 minutes.That was within a year of having a stroke. The Kiltwalk is normally 24 miles, I’ve done that twice just before Covid, in 6hrs 25 minutes both times. My only ‘illness’ is the after effects of that stroke, which has put me on 5 tablets a day. Passing the medical isn’t, and never has been, any problem for me.
I do wear specs, for long distance, not jam jar bottoms either. But without grandfather rights I wouldn’t pass the eye test. So those truckers will disappear over the next several years, once they retire. They won’t be replaced by younger truckers with jam jar bottom lenses, because you have to pass a minimum eye test without specs. You won’t get contacts for those lenses, they don’t fit on your eyes. So that’s one thing less for you to be concerned about.
Needing a wheelchair to get about outside the cab? That doesn’t affect your driving abilities. Auto’ gearboxes, power steering, hand operated throttle and brakes, powered tail lifts and so on. You only need legs for walking from a to b, and a wheelchair provides that movement.
Simon:
robbo99.:
But the “this little thing that’s a bit of a concern” can be checked out at a GP appointment along with blood tests and the like for free. My last medical, along with going over the medical form I had filled in included testing my eyesight with the Snellen chart and my blood pressure taken and recorded.I’m not being facetious here but seeing the state of some truckers, the medical can’t have such high standards, I mean I’ve seen morbidly obese trucker’s, a one armed trucker, a trucker that had to use a wheelchair whilst out of his cab and a trucker with lenses on his glasses thicker than the bottom of the old glass coke bottles.
Think I will stick to my £50 bargains.
A GP appointment can only be made first thing in the morning, for that day, at my surgery.
I can’t take a day off to do that. I leave the yard on Sunday morning and catch the ferry to Holland. I catch the Wed night ferry home from Holland and get home Thursday evening, provided the week goes more or less as planned. It might be Friday evening when I get home, although that’s rare.
So I can’t even try to make an appointment for next Friday, because there’s no guaruntee I’ll make it. We don’t have enough UK work for me to have a day off, then work the other days of the week. That means I have to make normal GP appointments on Fridays, if possible, or take a weeks holiday, or fit it into a weeks holiday.
My 5 yearly medical I can make an appointment in the future for. So I do it that way. Pay for a private consultation to do my DVLA Medical, it isn’t an NHS medical so it isn’t free from the NHS, and have a full MOT while I’m there, which is free on the NHS.I’m 63, between 80 - 85 kilos (around 13 stone) and 6’ tall. I did the Edinburgh Kiltwalk Mighty Stride again this year, only 21 miles this time, in 6 hrs 6 minutes.That was within a year of having a stroke. The Kiltwalk is normally 24 miles, I’ve done that twice just before Covid, in 6hrs 25 minutes both times. My only ‘illness’ is the after effects of that stroke, which has put me on 5 tablets a day. Passing the medical isn’t, and never has been, any problem for me.
I do wear specs, for long distance, not jam jar bottoms either. But without grandfather rights I wouldn’t pass the eye test. So those truckers will disappear over the next several years, once they retire. They won’t be replaced by younger truckers with jam jar bottom lenses, because you have to pass a minimum eye test without specs. You won’t get contacts for those lenses, they don’t fit on your eyes. So that’s one thing less for you to be concerned about.
Needing a wheelchair to get about outside the cab? That doesn’t affect your driving abilities. Auto’ gearboxes, power steering, hand operated throttle and brakes, powered tail lifts and so on. You only need legs for walking from a to b, and a wheelchair provides that movement.
Blimey, didn’t expect your health/work & lifestyle itinerary. It’s a pity you can’t get to a Doctor like most people can. I take that for granted.
In the meantime I’ll stick to my hgv medical once every 5 years for now at the bargain price of £50. If I need a Doctor’s appointment for anything else then I will do that and not have to lose a day’s pay.