- Public consultation reveals strong support for measures
allowing different types of healthcare professionals to complete
medical questionnaires as part of the medical licensing process
- Move will result in a speedier process to complete medical
questionnaires
- Delays caused by coronavirus (COVID-19), and industrial
action continue to be reduced for medical licensing applications,
with normal turnaround times expected by September 2022
Measures have been brought forward to change the law to allow
more healthcare professionals like specialist nurses to complete
DVLA medical questionnaires. This will help speed up the return
of medical information needed to make a licensing decision
following the pandemic and industrial action.
By law, all drivers must meet the medical standards for fitness
to drive and each year DVLA makes over 500,000 medical licensing
decisions. To help make these decisions, DVLA often requires
questionnaires to be completed by a driver’s doctor or
consultant.
Currently, the Road Traffic Act 1988 only enables registered
medical practitioners (doctors who are registered with the
General Medical Council) to complete DVLA medical questionnaires.
This has contributed to delays to medical applications throughout
COVID-19, particularly as DVLA medical checks were understandably
deprioritised at times during the pandemic and in December
2021/January 2022 where NHS resources were needed to support the
booster vaccination programme.
This proposed change in
the law will enable more people – who must be registered with
certain professional bodies – to join the list of those able to
complete medical questionnaires required as part of the medical
licensing process. These changes will not apply to the D4 medical examination
processfor vocational licence applicants.
DVLA Chief Executive Julie Lennard said:
We were pleased to see that the consultation responses supported
the idea of increasing the range of medical professionals who are
able to complete DVLA medical questionnaires. This is in line
with the way GP practices and hospital teams increasingly work
and will improve the process for those notifying DVLA of a
medical condition. This will also ease the pressure on
hard-working doctors by widening the number of medical experts
who can provide the necessary information.
Today’s announcement follows a public consultation launched on 8
November 2021, the response to which has been published today.
The consultation received over 400 responses, including from the
general public and medical professionals, with 82% of respondents
strongly agreeing or agreeing with the proposals.
The proposed law change will mean that any healthcare
professional registered with the following Councils will be
legally authorised to complete DVLA’s medical questionnaires:
- The General Chiropractic Council
- The General Medical Council
- The General Optical Council
- The General Osteopathic Council
- The Nursing and Midwifery Council
- The Health and Care Professions Council
Reasons expressed for supporting the change included the
provision of more flexibility and that it may result in quicker
licensing decisions by DVLA.
Transport Minister Baroness Vere said:
Changing this law makes sense. Doing so will safely improve the
application process for hundreds of thousands of motorists across
the country, whilst easing the pressure on our doctors and
consultants. It’s great to see these important proposals progress
into law.
DVLA handles millions of transactions every year and there are no
delays with online services, which have been working as normal
throughout the pandemic. Customers are encouraged to use these
services where possible.
The vast majority of transactions are back to normal processing
times. There are also no delays to HGV applications, with
straight forward applications being processed within around five
working days.
