Losing Licence After One Faint

[Prudie]

This is not me but a family member. She lives alone with her dog and has several jobs cleaning private houses. About a month ago she woke in the night to go to loo and passed out and banged her head which caused facial bruising. She took herself to A&E next day and they kept her in for 2 days mainly focusing on heart and blood pressure.She was discharged with them saying they can fing nothing wrong although they have fiddled with her BP tablets.

My question is that this one event has caused the hospital and her GP to say she cannot drive for 6 months. Ìs this normal even though she has no diagnosis, it is a major impact on her life. One faint and we lose our licence? I dont know where to tell her to look for advice.

[MissTerious]

Choux, Prudie is asking on behalf of her family member to help her. That was a bit harsh. Not like you.

[Prudie]

And why choux does that mean I care more about me than her? I am trying to help her in a situation I have no knowledge of and she has some issues.
You know I asked this in B&S with the hope of advice not an opportunity for some of the more unpleasant to jump on the opportunity to be snotty in order to make themselves feel good.

Thanks for some answers so far. I'll leave it at that.

[Peter Pedant]

Here - for advice
yes it is

you cant have: "I feel wibbly wobbly and I have a driving job so I need a licence" - oh yeah OK, drive but perhaps less in built up areas and near schools....

no it is NOT odd - this is life and safety for children, babies in prams and so on.

the difference between your fren' and the posters is that SHE has been advised NOT to drive and they werent.

I am not in a pozzie ( not being a doctor) to say if they have given advice whether they (the doctors) THEN have to inform DVLA

and I am sure ( even tho this is AB) that ringing up and asking "you gonna tell on me or what?" - is NOT part of my advice

[MissTerious]

Lots of people are habitual fainters and the reason is known. One faint in an adult not prone to fainting should be taken seriously and investigated. The hospital will advise if there's a need to report it to the DVLC.

[Peter Pedant]

Hi Prood
she has to take advice not to drive ..... seriously

Ay am not a lawyer - but say accident, and injury, will the insurance company pay. I would love to predict they will say no thanks !
and

There are some medical conditions and disabilities that can make it unsafe to drive and can invalidate your car insurance.

[choux]

Prudie, I did not mean to offend you, so I apologise. I really did have a doubt about the reason for the post.

[Peter Pedant]

// The hospital will advise if there's a need to report it to the DVLC.//

god the hospital advises not to drive and then says oo-er I am not sure if you self-report

this HAS to be AB on a friday !

(I cant remember if hospitals act as a gestapo in this)
Readers are aware ( haha) that hospitals are under a duty to report various things ( stab, explosive, gun shot, measles, monkey pox - small pox and so on)

[Ellipsis]

There is more than meets the eye as:

* she is already on blood pressure tablets and they have now changed the dosage
* they kept her in for two days (which is about the length of time they keep you in after a heart attack) and they were "mainly focusing on heart and blood pressure"

I suspect they know why they have recommended six months off driving, and perhaps your family member does too, although she may not understand/remember/want to admit it ...

[Bobbisox1]

Yes Prudie, it happened to my husband

[jennyjoan]

Peter you forgot. CORONOVIRUS. When the world was turned upside down

[Prudie]

Just as a final she absolutely did as was told, sent off her licence and hasn't driven since. That was a month ago and she hasn't had any heath issues since either. She may well not be telling me everything but as she drove herself to her different workplaces, shopping like we all do and her raison d'etre was driving out with her dog for country walks this has all knocked her for 6. I just thought some on here might have experience of similar situations.

[Bobbisox1]

Prurient my husband hadn’t fainted before or since and after going to our Doctors he was told they would have to inform the DVLA, that was over 20 years ago

[Bobbisox1]

* Prudie * ( haha)

[237SJ]

My Dad went out to lock the side gate one night and came in (luckily I was visiting home at the time) with his face all cut. I thought he'd been attacked as he didn`t remember what happened. He had obviously had some sort of faint and I took him to A&E. They kept him in overnight, couldn`t find anything wrong and put it down to postural hypotension (I don`t think it was - I reckon he had some sort of TIA which his father had suffered from) Anyway, they sent him home the next day and nobody ever said anything about him not driving and he was in his mid 70s at the time. Seems like the powers that be have been a bit overzealous about your relative. I guess there's nothing she can do about it now but hope that she doesn`t have another faint in the next 6 months and she gets her licence back.

[Prudie]

Prurient is a new one Bobbi, itchy ha! Anyway yes I suppose it may depend on which of the health professionals one comes across. It reminds me that many years ago an ex would occasionally fall to ground and he put it down to low blood pressure. Awful really, never thought about the driving issue at the time.

[Smowball]

When I had an unexplained seizure (they could find nothing wrong at all) the hospital told me to inform DVLA and to not drive for 6 months, which also completely threw me!

[Peter Pedant]

she's been told not to drive
should she?
is not the right way to approach this

//I dont know where to tell her to look for advice.//
she ' s had advice, all she needs to do is obey it

6 mo is the standard hand out

[Peter Pedant]

// yes I suppose it may depend on which of the health professionals one comes across.//

er excuse me ( opaque I know) but a faint is not a faint is not a faint - - they have causes and treatments.

not being a doctor, but
it should be
yes I suppose it may depend on which set of signs and symptoms you have been afflicted by

[Canary42]

Speaking from recent experience (sob sob, in my case it's permanent), I don't think the NHS report to DVLA, but in the case of a subsequent driving accident it would probably all come out, so ignoring it is inadvisable.

And, as already stated, insurance companies would welcome the get-out for them.

My sympathy to your family member, I know just what a blow the driving ban can be, and it's even worse for her as she needs it for working - presumably such jobs don't pay expenses so taxi fares will eat into her earnings.

[barry1010]

Doctors do report directly to NHS and don't need patients consent. They will always tell the patient to inform the DVLA, though.