When a person in the UK is diagnosed with Parkinson’s it is a legal requirement that the DVLA and your insurance company are informed of this.
The driving licence then will be reviewed every 1-3 years, with the DVLA contacting your Parkinson’s consultant/nurse asking them to complete a medical questionnaire. The patient does not normally see this report.
As my licence has been reviewed twice with no problem at all I was relaxed about it this time. I was then surprised to receive a serious sounding letter two days before Christmas from the DVLA telling me that my licence had been revoked and with immediate effect I was not permitted to drive a car.
I called the Parkinson’s Helpline, but they do not have any expertise in this area and suggested I contact the DVLA or the CAB. I tried to contact the DVLA but communicating with them was very difficult as they cannot reply to emails. When I finally managed to get through on the phone, I requested copies of all the relevant paperwork. Included with these was the consultant’s medical questionnaire from 2017 and the recent one. This is when I found the consultant had ticked the box saying my condition could affect safe driving. He qualified it by saying it was possibly due to my motor symptoms. What I found most disturbing was the fact that I hadn’t seen my consultant face to face since November 2019 and driving was never discussed!
This meant that a major decision about my life had been made by my consultant and the DVLA who had never seen me drive. There is no reliable public transport where we live so, without a licence, I would have to rely on my wife and friends to take me places or we would have to move. I do expect to give up driving at some point, but hopefully not yet!
I contacted my consultant who expressed great surprise at my licence being revoked and offered to help. We had a telephone consultation where he confirmed by letter that after tweaking my meds and diet, he considered I was fit to drive.
Phoning the DVLA again, I spoke to someone who was quite helpful in advising me how to appeal. This meant completing an entirely new licence application (form D1), a new Parkinson’s medical questionaire (form PK1) and enclosing new medical evidence (the report from my telephone consultation).
Everything was sent to the DVLA on 7th February, 2021. Two months later I am still waiting for their reply so I am keeping my FINGERS CROSSED!
Cheers,
Ian Pegg