I have PTSD which is incredibly mild (barely met the criteria for it) and does not affect me except for bad dreams. I also take promethazine as sleeping tablets for the ptsd as I sometimes have severe nightmares because of it. I also have Asperger’s. I declared this all on the D4 and the private doctor I used (cost £50, yourdrivermedical) has wrote that I have flashbacks and trouble sleeping, not the case.
About a month ago I sent of my d4 and my driving licence to the dvla to apply for a provisional artics licence as I’ve been offered a job with free training for artics. On the 1st the DVLA sent me a letter titled “our medical enquires into your fitness to drive”
It reads: “the dvla doctor is considering your fitness to drive, we’ve decided we need to write to your gp to ensure they do not have any concerns that your condition affects you safely controlling your vehicle at all times” I only received this Friday the 9th.
I called dvla and asked them to email my gp instead as there’s postal strikes. They did this. I spoke to my gp today and she has no idea, she’s booked an appointment to speak to me on the 15th.
I understand the rules to drive a hgv are strict (rightfully so!) but I am very worried that they will make a decision to revoke my car licence with this as this has happened before (not to me, to others) Can they refuse my application and I keep my car licence?
What are my dangers of losing my car licence?
First post here, I would greatly appreciate any advice. Thanks guys
Don’t over-think this. You are apparently already receiving treatment for whatever conditions you have. Your GP or specialist would have advised you not to drive (a car) if they thought the condition(s) warranted it. Assuming they have given you no such advice I think it safe to assume your car licence is safe.
The criteria for bus/lorry licences are indeed more stringent, and DVLA will want the full picture from your GP and/or specialist before deciding whether to grant your application.
FWIW I don’t think there’s anything to be concerned about (although obviously I’m not a doctor!), and it is the “trouble sleeping” comment that has triggered DVLA’s response.
I’d imagine it’s because you’re taking a medication which is specifically to help you sleep, and they’re likely to be concerned in case you still feel drowsy when you got behind the wheel of an HGV
This document is the guidance for medical practitioners, I only had a quick search but I didn’t see any mention of PTSD, sleep medication or antihistamines gov.uk/government/publicati … fessionals
On the plus side, what can potentially impede you for an HGV licence need not necessarily be a problem for your car licence - even TIAs (mini-strokes) don’t tend to impact your car entitlement
I passed out from extreme pain when twisting my ankle whilst on my lunch break, lost ALL entitlements for 13 months. It’s all to do with ticking boxes and how the doctor reports are worded. The wrong word can see you screwed.
I don’t want to be negative but if your doctor has told them you have ‘flashbacks’ then that could be classed as unsuitable to drive any vehicle. You say that’s not the case and if that’s the case then your doctor has misworded it as it should be ‘nightmares’.
In my case the trainee specialists said ‘seizures markers’ so they thought I had epilepsy. Then the proper specialist used the correct term…‘myoclinic jerks’ slight twitches when regaining consciousness after passing out.
PaddyTheLorryDriver:
I passed out from extreme pain when twisting my ankle whilst on my lunch break, lost ALL entitlements for 13 months. It’s all to do with ticking boxes and how the doctor reports are worded. The wrong word can see you screwed.
I don’t want to be negative but if your doctor has told them you have ‘flashbacks’ then that could be classed as unsuitable to drive any vehicle. You say that’s not the case and if that’s the case then your doctor has misworded it as it should be ‘nightmares’.
In my case the trainee specialists said ‘seizures markers’ so they thought I had epilepsy. Then the proper specialist used the correct term…‘myoclinic jerks’ slight twitches when regaining consciousness after passing out.
On the original d4 the private doctor also wrote “has not had any flashbacks for several months” will this go in my favour?
PaddyTheLorryDriver:
I passed out from extreme pain when twisting my ankle whilst on my lunch break, lost ALL entitlements for 13 months. It’s all to do with ticking boxes and how the doctor reports are worded. The wrong word can see you screwed.
I don’t want to be negative but if your doctor has told them you have ‘flashbacks’ then that could be classed as unsuitable to drive any vehicle. You say that’s not the case and if that’s the case then your doctor has misworded it as it should be ‘nightmares’.
In my case the trainee specialists said ‘seizures markers’ so they thought I had epilepsy. Then the proper specialist used the correct term…‘myoclinic jerks’ slight twitches when regaining consciousness after passing out.
On the original d4 the private doctor also wrote “has not had any flashbacks for several months” will this go in my favour?
I don’t think “has not had any flashbacks for several months” will make much difference to the DVLA. If they are looking for “clear”, it’s usually for a year or more.
Unfortunately, this highlights why you should use your own doctor for hgv medicals, especially if you have a long term “condition”.
Your own doctor will probably charge you the full cost, £120? But will know the exact details of your “condition”, so won’t inadvertently write misleading information.
The £50 “driver medical” doctor doesn’t care. They’ve got their 50 quid. If a “badly worded” answer causes you problems, like this has for you, they are long gone.
It has no affect on them what-so-ever.
Personally, I prefer to pay the full cost and see my own doctor. I’ll get a full personal MOT while I’m there. I probably haven’t seen mine in the last 5 years (age related hgv medicals). And if my own doctor writes a “badly worded” answer which causes me problems, he’s “within my reach”
P.S. within my reach, as in, I can contact my own doctor. Whereas, like I said, the hgv medical doctor is long gone.
PaddyTheLorryDriver:
I passed out from extreme pain when twisting my ankle whilst on my lunch break, lost ALL entitlements for 13 months. It’s all to do with ticking boxes and how the doctor reports are worded. The wrong word can see you screwed.
I don’t want to be negative but if your doctor has told them you have ‘flashbacks’ then that could be classed as unsuitable to drive any vehicle. You say that’s not the case and if that’s the case then your doctor has misworded it as it should be ‘nightmares’.
In my case the trainee specialists said ‘seizures markers’ so they thought I had epilepsy. Then the proper specialist used the correct term…‘myoclinic jerks’ slight twitches when regaining consciousness after passing out.
On the original d4 the private doctor also wrote “has not had any flashbacks for several months” will this go in my favour?
Is it possible that my own GP can tell them I haven’t had any flashbacks. I spoke to the drs today and they’ve received the email from the dvla, apparently it’s only a form/questionnaire. Will my dr be allowed to write her own report and include it with their questionnaire? I haven’t ever had a flashback, only bad dreams. I told the private doctor and this moron still wrote “flashbacks” grrr
I don’t think “has not had any flashbacks for several months” will make much difference to the DVLA. If they are looking for “clear”, it’s usually for a year or more.
Unfortunately, this highlights why you should use your own doctor for hgv medicals, especially if you have a long term “condition”.
Your own doctor will probably charge you the full cost, £120? But will know the exact details of your “condition”, so won’t inadvertently write misleading information.
The £50 “driver medical” doctor doesn’t care. They’ve got their 50 quid. If a “badly worded” answer causes you problems, like this has for you, they are long gone.
It has no affect on them what-so-ever.
Personally, I prefer to pay the full cost and see my own doctor. I’ll get a full personal MOT while I’m there. I probably haven’t seen mine in the last 5 years (age related hgv medicals). And if my own doctor writes a “badly worded” answer which causes me problems, he’s “within my reach”
P.S. within my reach, as in, I can contact my own doctor. Whereas, like I said, the hgv medical doctor is long gone.
PaddyTheLorryDriver:
I passed out from extreme pain when twisting my ankle whilst on my lunch break, lost ALL entitlements for 13 months. It’s all to do with ticking boxes and how the doctor reports are worded. The wrong word can see you screwed.
I don’t want to be negative but if your doctor has told them you have ‘flashbacks’ then that could be classed as unsuitable to drive any vehicle. You say that’s not the case and if that’s the case then your doctor has misworded it as it should be ‘nightmares’.
In my case the trainee specialists said ‘seizures markers’ so they thought I had epilepsy. Then the proper specialist used the correct term…‘myoclinic jerks’ slight twitches when regaining consciousness after passing out.
On the original d4 the private doctor also wrote “has not had any flashbacks for several months” will this go in my favour?
Is it possible that my gp can write to the DVLA and confirm that I do not, nor have, ever suffered flashbacks or significant symptoms? I checked with the Drs today and they said they’ve received an email from the DVLA with a ‘questionnaire form’
I don’t think “has not had any flashbacks for several months” will make much difference to the DVLA. If they are looking for “clear”, it’s usually for a year or more.
Unfortunately, this highlights why you should use your own doctor for hgv medicals, especially if you have a long term “condition”.
Your own doctor will probably charge you the full cost, £120? But will know the exact details of your “condition”, so won’t inadvertently write misleading information.
The £50 “driver medical” doctor doesn’t care. They’ve got their 50 quid. If a “badly worded” answer causes you problems, like this has for you, they are long gone.
It has no affect on them what-so-ever.
Personally, I prefer to pay the full cost and see my own doctor. I’ll get a full personal MOT while I’m there. I probably haven’t seen mine in the last 5 years (age related hgv medicals). And if my own doctor writes a “badly worded” answer which causes me problems, he’s “within my reach”
P.S. within my reach, as in, I can contact my own doctor. Whereas, like I said, the hgv medical doctor is long gone.
You’ve quoted several posts, including mine, but added nothing to them Shootr.
I can delete either or both of them if you like, just say so.
Forget quoting, just write your post.
Or another way is to delete the quote, or quotes, that aren’t important to your point.
look for (quote=“posters name”) and (/quote), in square brackets . Make sure to delete the whole quote, including all the brackets.
So if you want to reply to my post in particular. Delete from (quote =“Shootr”)(quote=“PaddyTheLorryDriver”) to- On the original d4 the private doctor also wrote “has not had any flashbacks for several months” will this go in my favour?(/quote)
(quote=“posters name”) means “start quote from posters name”, (/quote) means “end quote”, (quote) means “start quote” without a posters name.
All of these in square brackets, not round ( ). If I’d used then there would be strange quotes everywhere, but you wouldn’t see how or why it was happening
Shootr:
Is it possible that my gp can write to the DVLA and confirm that I do not, nor have, ever suffered flashbacks or significant symptoms? I checked with the Drs today and they said they’ve received an email from the DVLA with a ‘questionnaire form’
As you can see, I realised you have added to the quoted posts. It came up at the beginning of my post, as if I’d said this.
As DVLA have emailed your gp, with a questionaire. I’d say it was perfectly possible they’ll accept your gp’s word that you “do not, nor have, ever suffered flashbacks or significant symptoms”. If this wasn’t the case, they wouldn’t have bothered emailing in the first place.
With a bit of luck, you should be off the hook
Thanks Simon I spoke to the dvla again today and thankfully got through to someone decent. She said flashbacks are an automatic disqualification for any licence unless a year clear for hgv or three months clear of flashbacks for a car. I haven’t reported any flashbacks for over 3 years now so fingers crossed my gp can sort this. I’ll update everyone with what happens.
trevorking1964:
I had same problem. Took 3 months to get provisional.
Had to do a sit down with GP while she filled the form in.
Do you have ptsd too Trevor?
No.
I declared an ongoing medical condition and dvla said it required a report from my own gp before they would pass me to drive.
Whole thing took 3 months from posting original application to receiving my provisional.
trevorking1964:
I had same problem. Took 3 months to get provisional.
Had to do a sit down with GP while she filled the form in.
Do you have ptsd too Trevor?
No.
I declared an ongoing medical condition and dvla said it required a report from my own gp before they would pass me to drive.
Whole thing took 3 months from posting original application to receiving my provisional.
I’d recommend using your own gp, when it comes to ‘renewal medical’ time Trevor.
It will probably cost more than the cheaper hgv medical Dr, but you could save yourself a lot of heartache and stress.
Mine was a GP referral to the syncope clinic and the DVLA requested the report. That’s where it went badly wrong as the report used incorrect terminology.
The same thing with flashbacks. If it’s just bad dreams then it’s bad/incorrect terminology. As you said it’s incorrect I’m therefore assuming it’s nightmares so completely different and AFAIK not dvla notifiable. Just as mine isn’t notifyable unless it may affect my driving. I’m pretty sure I won’t break my arm or have to give blood (yep I faint with needles) whilst driving an artic.
So I’ve sat down with my gp while she filled the form in and the questions included stuff like ‘has the patient been admitted to a psychiatric ward” “does the patient experience significant depression or anxiety” “does patient use drugs or alcohol” of course my gp ticked no to all of this. There was no question about flashbacks. It turns out they were enquiring about the PTSD and they don’t seem worried about the medication. My gp didn’t get a chance to explain that I don’t have flashbacks as there was no question related to this.
They asked is he being treated for ptsd she wrote “has been offered treatment but did not feel he needs it” and also attached a form from my ptsd assessment showing my very low ptsd score. I should be alright now she assured me. I will update this post when I hear back from the dvla
Shootr:
So I’ve sat down with my gp while she filled the form in and the questions included stuff like ‘has the patient been admitted to a psychiatric ward” “does the patient experience significant depression or anxiety” “does patient use drugs or alcohol” of course my gp ticked no to all of this. There was no question about flashbacks. It turns out they were enquiring about the PTSD and they don’t seem worried about the medication. My gp didn’t get a chance to explain that I don’t have flashbacks as there was no question related to this.
They asked is he being treated for ptsd she wrote “has been offered treatment but did not feel he needs it” and also attached a form from my ptsd assessment showing my very low ptsd score. I should be alright now she assured me. I will update this post when I hear back from the dvla
That all sounds promising Shootr. Best of luck with the DVLA.
It’s Thursday evening, 5 weeks after DVLA informed me they were writing to my GP. Still not heard anything from them, I was hopeful for this week
Their letter says I shouldn’t contact them unless I have new information. That’s officialese for ‘leave us in peace, we’ll downgrade your file if you don’t’.
PaddyTheLorryDriver:
At least they’re not on strike as they were when they revoked mine, in both regular departments and then the medical licence department.
True! But the posties are apparently. I got some mail the other day, so it’s not a full time strike.
But as the DVLA save money by using 2nd class business post…
