How to make a complaint about the DVLA medical assessment process

Medical this friday

Convicted Driver Insurance

berylsmum

Member
Wish I'd discovered this site earlier as my medical is this friday and I didn't realise that I needed to cut out alcohol for a period of time before the test! I was out for a girlie lunch/evening yesterday and drank, and it was BF birthday at the weekend so drank quite a bit then. Firstly I'm annoyed that I wasn't breaking the law on my nights out but after reading many posts on here it seems I could get an additional 6 month ban for doing so.
Is there anyone who has been in the same situation as me and passed the test? My ban is up on the last day of February and I'm really not sure what to do now.
 
I might be wrong, but I don't think you are supposed to deliberately plan to under represent what you usually drink by artificially cutting back before the medical. I think that, as a high risk offender, you need to prove to the DVLA that you pose no significant motoring danger to anyone else, should you be given your licence back, due to evidence of sustained alcohol abuse.

I know that people say this is wrong and if you don't even have a licence then what business is it of the DVLA how much you drink? But, I suppose they are working on the assumption that if you've spent the last two years ripped to the tits every night, there is a faint possibility that you might drive whilst pissed again.

Apart from the excellent forum administrators, we are all crims here, but some of us are more suss than others to the DVLA.
 
Why thank you so much for your helpful reply. I have not been 'ripped to the tits every night for the last 2 years' and I think it obvious that I had every intention of hiding nothing from the DVLA by drinking yesterday and at the weekend. My question arose after reading so many posts of people failing the tests if levels were high, when they had abstained for weeks! On the two occasions I'm referring to I've consumed approximately 3 bottles of wine and I wonder if anyone else on here passed the test with the same time span as myself! If not I will postpone the test and go teetotal rather than face another 6 month ban! If cooking the books is what's required then so be it!
 
Good lord! It's been almost 2 years since I got my licence back and it seems far longer. My medical came back fine. I think the doctor looks for signs of you being an alcoholic, the same signs you and I would notice when speaking to someone. I wouldn't worry too much, your drinking habits are quite like mine. Go easy for a few weeks before the test just to make sure.
Can't begin to tell you how it felt to get my licence back. Just like just passing your test but with a naughty edge. I drove like a saint and 2 years on I still feel uncomfortable when a police car is behind me even though I haven't had a drink. Wish you all the best :)
 
Brilliant news!! Congratulations to you girl!

Can you be honest with me (privately if you wish) about exactly what you were drinking prior to, and how for how long you abstained leading up to, your medical.

I'm confused about whether to abstain completely for a long long time (which, frankly I'd find difficult) or whether just cutting down is enough. I eat raw veg, drink 2 litres of water per day, dog-walk for a living, don't smoke, do drugs or take paracetamol, and generally enjoy healthy living. As well as a lot of red wine.....and that's what I'm afraid of!

:confused:
 
Like most people on here I didn't see my drinking habits of being of any concern to the DVLA whilst I didn't have a licence. After going on this forum I panicked. I cut right down for the last three weeks before my liver test and it was fine. I've loved my wine most evenings for quite a few years, still do.If you find it difficult to cut right down for a few weeks then maybe you have a problem. Nothing to feel ashamed about but maybe something you should address. I'm afraid I'm all or nothing, that's just me! I think that like me, you'll look back once this is all over and wonder why you worried so much. Keep in touch and let me know how you're getting on :)
 
I had my medical on Tuesday, i had to do a sample and fill in a questionnaire before i went into see the doctor, he himself was very nice,asked a few questions which were already on the form, did my height,weight,blood pressure,listened to my chest front and back,looked in my eyes,felt my stomach,which im assuming is to feel if the liver/kidneys are inflamed,i had to walk in a straight line kipper style,hold my hands out pointing upwards, i was honest with my answers, i suffer badly from nerves/anxiety/stress/depression at the best of times,something like this sent me to pieces before hand. I mentioned to hime some of the things i had read on here and how some terrified me,basically he said to me that "we don not test levels of alcohol,so it makes no difference what you've drank and when,all we test is the condition of the liver". I asked him if he wanted my water simple and he said no it didn't matter??? not sure why that was. I think as someone else said they do look for signs of alcoholism/dependency.If any of you are worried or scared about this, i really wouldn't be as it all comes down to the liver results,of which we can little about. My only gripe is i have had my licence back 3 years and can't believe after all this time i'm having to do this!!! I also still fail to see, how having a bad liver makes you a bad driver???!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So now i gotta wait (more nerves/stress/anxiety) for the results. Good luck to all.
 
Just out of interest, why did you have to have a medical 2 years after losing your licence? Didn't you have one before you got your licence back?
 
berylsmum said:
Just out of interest, why did you have to have a medical 2 years after losing your licence? Didn't you have one before you got your licence back?
Click to expand...

I don't have my licence back yet....but loads of HRO's were mistakenly issued their licence back, have been driving for years, and now thanks to an enquiry at the DoT, have to undertake a DVLA medical by a certain date in order to keep their licence.

I'm all or nothing too so I shall abstain altogether I think. What worries me, as Queent68 points out is the damage to liver caused by years of wine driking which cannot be undone by a few weeks' abstention!
 
I know everyone is different but I think it would take a great deal of the hard stuff rather than wine to cause irreversible damage. The liver repairs itself very well, even alcoholics can get it down to normal limits after abstaining. Thing is, I think most of us on this particular subject have a problem of some degree with alcohol. We are all desperate to get our licences back yet are still fretting over how pickled our livers are and how long we can carry on drinking before the medical!
Someone said to me 'Alcohol is a problem when it causes problems in your life' 18 months of catching buses and not being able to give my daughters lifts was a big problem to me.
 
Yes you#re quite right....I thought it was going to be very problematic for me too, but I guess you just roll up your sleeves and get on with it. I'm lucky enough to live in London and I don't have anyone who depends on me for lifts. And yes, asking how long I can continue drinking in the lead up to a liver function test is questionable but I'm not alone! I guess the thought of adding another 6 months on top of 2 and a half years is too much to bear.

Oyster cards and Ocado deliveries were a pleasant revelation though - so it has its positives!
 
Ha ha. Yes the roll up sleeves and get on with it! I remember looking at the positives when I first caught the bus. I live in a city but my children's school is 8 miles out of town. Their bus passes cost a fortune and watching them standing across the road waiting for the bus in the freezing cold was awful. Internet shopping.... That took some getting used to. All the 1kg of different fruits that I ordered and ended up with 1 orange 1 apple 1 banana :) Character building I say lol
 
I hope you don't think I was being flilppant - I surely had it easier than you did. It's just my way of dealing with a difficult situation! And yes, I too have ended up with strange portions of fruit and veg and unwanted 'substitutes' in my online deliveries!

Well, I'm looking forward to panorama tonight: Alistair Campbell investigates Britain's drinking problem....ha!
 
They explained in the letter that at the time there was a flaw between the courts letting DVLA know, hence 3 years later now having to do mine,so it's kinda contradictive really cos i could've been driving drunk for that time!!!(which i haven't btw)
 
Blimey Queen68....... So I suppose the medical is the DVLA 'law!' I wonder what would have happened if a person had slipped through their net and went onto kill someone through drink driving? Who would be to blame, the DVLA or the driver? Dodgy to say the least! I didn't do the course as I didn't want to miss a whole load of Saturdays away from my daughters, I also believed I deserved my sentence. On top of that what they say about having a positive effect on insurance is bull. Mine went up by £10 per month because I'd had an accident and lost a years no claims.
Regretful girlie. I don't think you were being at all flippant. I know exactly where you're coming from. I was a little put out when I wasn't allowed on the bus with a real Christmas tree, albeit a rather large one :)
 
Yes @ berylsmum, my doctor was in a rage about it when i told him, he is convinced it is just another money making scam by the government,as he said, even if you do have a bad liver,what crime have you committed? it's not illegal to drink, so in my case to take my licence back off me,they would have to take me back to court but on what charge??? and that will only cost them more money,which im sure is defeating their object AND as he also said having a bad liver doesnt make you a bad driver, however there are people out there driving with serious medical conditions whom are far more of a danger!! He really was enraged by this, it's telling people what they can and cant do in their own homes,just cos you may have a drink,it doesnt mean you are gonna drive does it, i can understand it for repeat offenders but in most of our cases that isnt the reason, money,money and more bloody money!!!
I am not saying i defend my drink driving, it WAS wrong VERY wrong but the fact i've been driving 3 years now just doesnt seem right???!!!
Also has anyone actually ever had their licence revoked through this medical? cos in my extensive research, i have yet to find anyone,some have had to do it 2 or 3 times to enable them to get it back but those are the ones who are still on their ban???? Anyone???
 
Hi QueenT68

My best friend is in the same position as you. He too was driving for 2 and a half years when he received the letter. He hasn''t booked it yet, but he has been drinking since the ban and afterwards (although clearly not whilst driving). It is totally punitive - and a money making scam. I know of someone who it took years to get back - she was a complete juicer though and has been attending AA for a number of years. When is your test? Have you stopped drinking?
 
Hi regretfulgirlie,
I had my medical last tues, it was fairly straight forward (i have posted about it in this thread already), so now i am waiting anxiously for the results,yes it does all seem a farce i quite agree, the doctor on the day told me basically they are not testing levels of alcohol,just the condition of your liver, hence my annoyance, i have been on proazc on and off for the last 10 years,which i've heard can do just as much damage,plus numerous other types of anti d's , i smoke 30 a day,so HOW, can they tell???? Money making scam!!!
 
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