DVLA Medical Terrible Service Very Slow

Scholsey555

:eek: I am also victim to the dvla waiting times for medical cases! I had a car accident causing me to have a minor head injury.

Initially the dvla said that it was up to my doctor to make the decision if it was safe for me to drive (2 or 3 weeks after the accident) he confirmed that there was no reason why I can't drive. So I happily started driving.
Feeling good I decided to call my work and agree that I was ok to start back on a staggered return, at his point driving fine.

Two days before I was due to go back to work I decided to go and buy some work clothes, on my way to the car the postman arrived and handed me a dvla envelope...... It was the worst feeling ever to read '6 months lisense revoke due to possible seizures' at this point I hadn't had any seizures and was getting better by the day!!

After the 4 months it stated that I could send the form to get my lisense back.,

Now on 6th July 2016 it will have been 8 months without a lisense.

Two months over the suggested 6 months break.

My number one hate has always being a passenger and it's driving me crazy, I had the crash at no fault of my own and waiting for the solicitor to sort the personal injury but the other party are dragging their feet so it's not a good situation!
:mad:

kwhite01

Hi Scholsey555. really sorry to hear about your experience. It seems that I am not alone with unacceptable DVLA timescales and their attitude towards the very long delays !!.

Some comments if you dont mind:
Have you had an EEG at all to try to identify if you might actually have developed epilepsy as a result of your brain injury ?. Did you can have certain types of seizures without even being aware you have had them ! However lots of people have seizures or indeed worsening epilepsy and dont inform the DVLA and are out their driving and a huge potential risk on the road !

Any contact with the DVLA to inform them of a possible reason for not driving is down to the driver and not the medical profession from what I believe.

How did the DVLA Medical section get informed about your head injury and resultant possible Epilepsy if neither you or your doctor didnt inform them and fill in DVLA medical forms ? Was it as a result of the personal injury claim i wonder ?

None of this helps you I know with your situation but might explain how the DVLA could revoke your licence without your prior knowledge. It all sucks big time and peoples lives are being ruined by the attitude of the DVLA. If your licence hadnt been revoked and you and your GP were certain you had been seizure free for the specified 6 months then you could have carried on driving until you had received the DVLA decision about driving again or not - but you probably knew this already. I wish you well with your situation.

Overhehillandfaraway

I'm still waiting as well ....... I had my licence revoked after a simple faint. I have other medical issues (that don't affect everyday life) but I happened to mention the faint (happened during mountain biking on a steep uphill section at altitude) at a routine appointment and they ran a lot of tests - all came back negative and the conclusion was a simple faint due to the extreme exercise. I was advised to inform DVLA as it might affect insurance should I have an accident if I hadn't declared it as it was now on my medical record. I was told that there was no issue about driving as it was a single incident and happened under very specific conditions.

My licence was immediately revoked for 6 months. Okay, they have to be cautious.

No public transport here and I don't qualify for any of the community transport schemes so it has been a pain having to beg lifts from neighbours and strangers. I have often had to hitch a lift, standing at the roadside, which is not advisable for anyone, but I have no option.

I have not had another fainting incident and applied for my licence back. I heard nothing and phoned them to find out what was happening ... they confirmed they have the forms but can't give me any idea of time scales.

I can't get transport to my next hospital appointment, just an annual check-up and possibly the last, so unless the licence comes back in a couple of weeks (haha) I will have to cancel the appointment

If I had known what was going to happen I would have voluntarily surrendered my licence and then applied for re-in-statement. As it is I could be in the same situation of not knowing for a long long time yet. I am tempted to go to the ombudsman but think that might make me a target in the future.

In Scotland you get 21 days to appeal a decision. That is 21 days form the letter being written which isn't enough time for the letter to actually get to you (about a week), collect all the medical evidence, see a lawyer and get a court hearing (and remember you don't have transport, there is no public transport and you need to go up to 100 miles). Basically there is no appeal in Scotland.

sibo140

i VOLUNTARILY SUSPENDED MY PCV LICENCE BACK IN 2006 AS I WAS HAVING HEART SURGERY. FOLLOWING A BAD RECOVERY AND TROUBLES FOR 10 YEARS I AM FINALLY READY TO GO BACK TO WORK. I TOOK MY D4 MEDICAL AND SENT EVERYTHING BACK TO THE DVLA. MY OWN DOCTOR ASKED FOR THEIR DOCTOR TO TAKE A LOOK AND THATS WHERE IM AT NOW. 6 WEEKS I HAVE WAITED AND STILL NO WHERE NEAR KNOWING IF I CAN GET BACK TO WHAT I LOVE DRIVING BUSES. ALL THEY WILL TELL YOU IS ITY IS WITH THE DOCTOR WAITING FOR A DECISION. NEXT FRIDAY WILL BE 7 WEEKS. FRUSTRATED IS HOW I FEEL AND GETTING ANGRY AT A USELESS SYSTEM USED AT THE DVLA.

cannotbeleive

frustration is the nick name of the inefficient DVLA... I have been waiting something like nearly 6 months since I have applyed..and nothing so far. I have also stopped calling them to get an update..as they do not have any update. not to talk about the call centre people which are just so rude and useless of course. good luck to all of those who are waiting like me...maybe forever :mad:

Safetyone

E mail Oliver Morley at the DVLA ,He is the CEO and the more people get in touch with him the more chance we have of things improving, I had a 12 month long fight with them regarding my licence, I won in the end, The game play is to wear you down not help you

Safetyone

oliver.morley@dvla.gsi.gov.uk

squirrelcyril

I had problems some time ago with poor service but think it has improved. Had to report a change of medication to the DVLA last month, and it took less than 15 days to get a letter back accepting the change and telling me my next review would be as planned in 2018.

Peter2110

I to have had a nightmare with Dvla 13 months ago I had a fit due too drinking to much alcohol and red bull I was advised by my doctor to notify Dvla so I did. And was told to not drive for six months and return my licence which I did but surprise they didn't recieve it then I had another 5 weeks later so know it's up to a year which was fine by me better safe than sorry my year was up last month 23/01/2017 so applied 8 weeks before was told they had to get a report from my doctor they asked if I was a drunk a drug addict which was shocking my doctor said no and cleared me to drive which I should be now then I got a letter saying I need a medical full one including blood and urine ok fine the thing is this could be 7 weeks till I get a decision I'm on the verge of being paid of as my work thought I would be driving they do not care and don't give a crap and no wonder ppl do not tell them as if I had known this I wouldn't have told them as I was the one that called them if they knew this could this not have been done in December Dvla a joke

thefatgit

20 weeks since I had to send my licence back for medical review and still no update.

I am allowed to drive until a decision is made but I have no licence as it has expired.
It makes it very awkward as I couldn't hire a car on holiday, I can't test drive any cars (I'm due to order in 2 months) and if I need a courtesy car for any reason I can't have one.
Desperately trying to get my wife through her test, but she failed today on 2 silly things due to nerves.

I know they have to be thorough, but I had a medical and eye test in October.