DVLA criticised for unfair decisions about medical fitness-to-drive

The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman's report has criticised the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) for making flawed decisions on medical fitness-to-drive cases.

The report claimed that people's lives had been put on hold for years because of bad decision-making and poor communication. It outlined ‘major failings’ in eight drivers’ cases who were prevented from driving due to flawed decisions, significant delays, poor communication and complaint handling.

It directed criticism at the Drivers’ Medical Group (DMG) which considers whether drivers with a medical condition are safe to drive.

The DMG makes between 600,000 and 750,000 licensing decisions every year and around 10 per cent of those are complex cases dealt with by medical experts.

Julie Mellor, Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman, commented: “People's lives have been put on hold for years because of severe delays and flawed decisions by the DVLA, leading people to lose their jobs, causing stress, worry and isolation.

“Further action is needed to make the assessments of fitness to drive more robust, to prevent others from suffering the same injustice in the future."

Oliver Morley, chief executive of the DVLA, maintained that he was sorry for the way the customers’ cases had been handled, argued: “These eight very complex cases, however, date back to 2009 and since then the vast majority of the four million cases we've handled have been dealt with swiftly and correctly.

"We have already made a number of improvements including more effective ways of managing cases, taking on more staff and introducing a new online service where drivers can tell us about their medical conditions."

Nick Lyes, RAC public affairs spokesman, said: ”It is vitally important that those who need their vehicles and are safe to use them can do so in the quickest time possible, but there is also a duty on authorities to keep our roads and drivers as safe as possible."