Driving and the DVLA

[warthog]

I've just been diagnosed with S.A. and the Doctor said I had to inform the DVLA. Will the DVLA take my licence away??? I'm really stressing as I need my car for work! Any advice gratefully received!

[James @ Intus]

Hi and welcome to the forum.

Here comes some hair splitting...

If you were diagnosed with OSA (apnoea events during the night but not necessarily tired in the day) you are OK. If it is OSAHS (the syndrome, meaning both the nightly events as well as the daytime sleepiness) then the DVLA needs to know because you're a risk on the roads unless treated properly.

Here is a detailed post on it:

http://blog.cpap.co.uk/2007/09/sleep-apnoea-and-sleepy-driving

If you can get treatment fast, you can tell the DVLA about your sleep apnoea and at the same time tell them it's under control. But if you're on a waiting list, you may not be able to stall informing them too long. And remember, in the end of the day, it's about road users safety. If you feel tired chronically, you shouldn't drive. You won't be the first OSA sufferer to kill one or more people if you do.

So access times to treatment is key here really. The sooner, the better.

[warthog]

Thanks for that - at the same time I was diagnosed, I was issued with a CPAP so treatment has started already. Does that make a difference?

[James @ Intus]

If that's going well then yes, it makes a lot of difference. You can then write to them in a few days saying yes you were diagnosed and yes, you were treated and respond well to it. Get your doctor to confirm this and to mention you're no longer tired (if true) and they'll let you off the hook.

The sleep clinic will be able to check your performance and comment on it to the DVLA.

Where did you get treated that quickly?

[warthog]

I was referred by my GP about a month ago and had the appointment last week. I went to the Brompton Hospital.

[James @ Intus]

That's fortunate and might well have avoided a big ordeal with your driving situation.

[leswaller]

James
It varies a lot round the country depending on which Primary Care Trust you are in. I had a GP appointment, a sleep study, and an outpatient appointment from which I came away with a CPAP machine all in the space of 3 weeks.
Some PCTs dont fund the CPAP machines and so regard sleep apnea as a low priority with the consequent delays

[James @ Intus]

That's right. We keep a rough 'map' of hotspots throughout the country where things are particularly bad or good. It really is hit and miss and sometimes there's only a few miles between getting no help or being sorted in days.

[jan ward]

Hi

I was issued a CPAP machine same day I was diagnosed and told to inform DVLA of the diagnosis and that I was on therapy which I have done. Apparently the DVLA contact the hosp, in my case Leicester General, and all being well by then treatment should be well under way and there should be no problem.

Jan

[puffin]

Walsall Manor took three months from GP's referal to the machine being issued.

[spittree]

hi all igot my letter in post confiming consultants fears i have sleep apnea.im now on a waiting list in wirral .any 1 no how long this is?doctor said they would try and speed it up because of my job.mmmmmmmmm
also visited my own gp 2day and he ha signed me off from work for 2months.im gutted.also does any1 know if i can get help witth sick pay and rent even though im self employed
regards eddy

[leswaller]

Hi Eddy, The waiting time depends on how much of a priority OSA is for your PCT. You might be able to get your GP to exert some pressure to get your CPAP machine quicker on the basis that you are self employed and if you can't work you don't have any income. Unfortunately unless you have taken out private health insurance you wont get any state benefits such as sick pay. The government takes the stance that if you don't pay it in (National insurance contributions) you cant have anything out

[puffin]

I'm self employed, and it is law that you pay your NIC anyway. So you should be able to claim.

[leswaller]

Hi Puffin,
I don't know where you live but if you are in the UK I can asure you that you can't claim sickness benefit if you are self employed. The NIC that you pay as a self employed person is towards your old age state pension and the NHS

[puffin]

I stand corrected, as I have not needed to claim.