I had a month away in my place in BG in september, but when i came back my licence had almost ran out, there amongst my post was a letter from the dvla, so duly booked a doctors appt ( 2 weeks later ) took the medical, ( thats a joke really cos all they do is fill in the form with your medical history from the computer ) plus the usual, urine, blood pressure, etc, and as he handed back the paper work said, theres nothing there to stop you from getting your licence, paid the £100 at reception ( i was surprised at that cos my past doctor used to put it in his sky rocket ) so duly sent off the envelope, 2 weeks later a letter arrives from dvla telling me i have sleep apnoea, now i must admit that as the age creeps up, one does get a bit restless, but i have never been diagnosed with that, so phoned them up, they asked me to put it in writing, which i did, told them i only work 3 days a week, mon-wed-fri, no nights out, no distance work as such, they sent me back a letter authorising me to continue driving, but this is now the 6th week, i dont mind as i have been doing lots of work around the house, if this was a driver who relies on his licence to support his family, with no other income, how on earth would he manage, he couldnt claim social security, his boss no doubt would pay either, so hes up the creek without a paddle. I can if i wanted return to work, and just show the letter, but i`m hanging on till the end of this week to see what will happen, and if it arrives this week.
truckyboy:
… they sent me back a letter authorising me to continue driving…
So what exactly is the problem ? 
I often get the same letter from DVLA whilst they take months to sort out an eye test which always proves me ok to drive
How did they get to the decision about sleep apnoea?
del949:
How did they get to the decision about sleep apnoea?
- 1 … did some-one tick the wrong box on your medical … just done mine … had to read it through twice to make sure i’d got it all ok.
How else have DVLA found you have got this ?
ROG:
truckyboy:
… they sent me back a letter authorising me to continue driving…So what exactly is the problem ?
I often get the same letter from DVLA whilst they take months to sort out an eye test which always proves me ok to drive
Don’t they put it on your record about which eye sight standard you have to reach?
I am on grandfather rights as far as eye sight goes, I only have to reach standard that was current in 1988.
i have sleep apnea too 
its never been a problem but i sent my licence and digi card off on 26 oct for a) digi card faulty b) change address on both. and i still have neither. rang again!! yesterday and told “please be patient your a priority and we`ll deal with it as quickly as possible”. fortunately i only drive 3.5t and 7.5t so boss has kept me on van work only .
I have glaucoma in the right eye only and its getting the visual field test at a DVLA approved place which normally causes the delay
As that is for every 3 years then they give me a 3 year expiry date for my LGV each time and that has an odd effect on the D4 medical because instead of every 5 years I need the D4 every 6 years = weird but true
I have just done my 5 yr medical … my own GP wanted £120 … got it done elsewhere for £58 
did it on the Fri posted off Fri pm 2nd Nov … got new licence back on Tues. 13th … so can’t understand about DVLA being slow … though you obviously have a problem being supposedly diagnosed with this sleep apnoea.
Hi guys, yeah i am puzzled as to why they came up with that, it really did come out of the blue. As one gets older, i find that sleep isnt what it used to be, and my assumtion of the dvla sleep apnoae ( is that the right spelling ) is probably due to the fact that i did visit the doctor to ask for some help in sleeping, and was prescribed the usual sleeping pills, i did have to have a few visits to get the ones that suited me, and although i dont take them every day, they do help when i need them. I assume that dvla must have misread the report, however as said, once i phoned them up, they asked me to submit in writing that i do not, and have not ever suffered from the dreaded apnoae, i did believe that it was a diagnosis that would lead to a revocation of my hgv licence, according to some on here, thats not the case.
As for the £100 doctors fee, yes i could have gone to a cheaper one, but havev always believed that my own doctor would have all of my medical history, whereas another strange doctor, would have to believe my answers that i give to him, unless he has access to my medical files, i have heard that every driver from next year, will have to use their own registered doctor for the hgv medical, i now have my letter and can actually drive if i want, i prefer to wait until i have the original.
I too have heard this about having to use the GP that you are “registered” with to do your medicals … I have asked a Doctor about this … was told that although it MAY have been discussed … at present there is nothing been drafted to say that this will happen.
Another case of MMTM in the RDC waiting room ?
I had problems with my last one too. I went to my GP and it was a new doctor who did it. To be fair she was pretty thorough and went carefully through it all, so I was pretty relieved when I walked out with the signed form in my hand.
When I got home I sat and looked through it and saw that she had ticked a wrong box, so I jumped in the car and went straight back to the surgery, only to find that she had already left. I had to leave the form for her to alter after the weekend.
When I went back to collect it again I stood at the reception and went through the whole thing line by line and found another mistake. The receptionist said I would have to leave it again but I kicked up a fuss, demanded to speak to the practice manager, and pointed out that I had paid £120 for this shoddy service. Eventually they took it back to the doctor and got her to correct it again.