Well, to cut a long story short, I’ve got a couple of months off.
A little more in-depth, and I was involved in a road traffic incident a number of years back and have suffered and struggled with depression since. More recently, around October 2017, I had an episode and was picked up by the Police, then escorted to see the Mental Health team at the local hospital. From there I was referred to the “Access/Home Based Treatment” team, and saw a team of very helpful men and women that helped me get my head out of an extremely dark place, I even got some medication to help with mood etc.
Now, I informed the DVLA of this in October and they sent the forms out to me quite promptly, the lad on the end of the phone was quite helpful really. These forms were passed to the Consultant and filled in, and from what I was told, posted back to the DVLA Medical Dept the next morning.
Fast forward to January, and a letter dropped through the letter box saying they hadn’t received the forms back, and failure to do so would result in suspension of licences. So I rang them and they sent another form out, which I filled in to the best of my knowledge and returned, then spent a day chasing the consultant to find out if they had in fact sent the previous forms off, which I’ve never found out.
Anyway, fast forward, again, to today, 10/02/18, and they’ve made the decision to revoke all entitlements until I can provide proof of mental stability for a 6 month period, which has to be authenticated by GP, Consultant or other Medical Professional whose care I’ve been under.
The questions I wish to ask, are;
- When does the 6 month period start?
- Will I be required to take any additional tests to get my licence returned?
- I’ve been discharged from the “Access/Home Based Treatment” team for around 3 months, so assume it will be my GP I’ll need to contact, or would the Consultant be a better choice?
- Since starting medication, in Nov 2017, I can safely say my mood has changed for the better completely, surely this will be in my favour?
There are probably other questions that I should be asking, but those are what I’ve got so far.
Thankfully, the company I was/am working for are fantastic. The gaffer was in the yard when I got back today, and understood completely, and said to keep in touch, and that the job will still be there when/if I get my licence back.
Won’t lie, I shed a tear when I parked her up for the last time for a while…
