The new regulation should help speed up the return of medical information needed to make a licensing decision following the pandemic and industrial action, the government hopes.
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, the 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 the DVLA medical questionnaires.
Among other factors, this has also contributed to delays to medical applications throughout COVID-19, particularly as DVLA medical checks were understandably deprioritized at times during the pandemic and in December 2021/January 2022 when NHS resources were needed to support the booster vaccination programme.
As we have earlier reported, Prime Minister Boris Johnson called an emergency meeting with the DVLA’ leaders for this week to question them about the backlogs and the possible solutions.
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.
Reasons expressed for supporting the change included the provision of more flexibility and that it may result in quicker licensing decisions by DVLA.
“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,” said Transport Minister Baroness Vere.
It is worth mentioning, that there are also no delays to HGV applications, with straightforward applications being processed within around five working days. However, passenger car drivers may need to wait more than 10 weeks to get their applications sorted.