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Driving in Somerset

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Stefan Kolowski
Stefan Kolowski*
Affiliation:
Rydon House, Cheddon Road, Taunton TA2 7AZ
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Information
Psychiatric Bulletin , Volume 25 , Issue 5 , May 2001 , pp. 195
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Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
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Copyright © 2001, The Royal College of Psychiatrists

Sir: I agree that to deprive older people of transport could seriously inconvenience them (Psychiatric Bulletin, December 2000, 24, 469), however, the new General Medical Council guidelines — Confidentiality; Protecting and Providing Information (2000) specifically states that

“The Agency [DVLA] needs to know when driving licence holders have a condition which may now, or in the future, affect their safety as a driver…. If patients refuse to accept the diagnosis or the effect of the condition on their ability to drive, you can suggest that the patients seek a second opinion, and make appropriate arrangements for the patients to do so. You should advise patients not to drive until the second opinion has been obtained.”

No, I do not want to alienate older people with mild cognitive impairment, but I do feel that we have a duty to the public in assessing and monitoring these people. They can, after all, have a driving assessment arranged through regional test centres if they feel they want to appeal against advice not to drive.

References

General Medical Council (2000) Confidentiality; Protecting and Providing Information. London: GMC.Google Scholar
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