To think ROSPA should make it clear that Older Driver Assessments might result in a loss of license?

If it's a test of fitness to drive, surely it's obvious that one outcome could be that you're not fit to drive - in which case losing your licence is the best course?

This, and it really does seem that for some, this should be acceptable, and that it’s worse for someone to be told they’re unsafe to drive, than keeping unsafe drivers off the roads.

I agree with the op though this should be clear on their website too otherwise it's really disingenuous

I am very much support the idea that people should not drive if they are not fit to do so, and it really frustrates me when people will drive when they probably know they should not. But that doesn't mean a website should be all cheerful and " we're just here to help you" if in fact that is a misrepresentation of the potential outcomes

If that was the case, you'd think it would be somewhere on their website? The Driver Assessment centres which are NOT RoSPA. put on the form, that people sign before the assessment, that the signer agrees to the organisation's reporting assessment results to the DVLA. Even they, who operate in dual control cars only and have facilities for on site testing, can only report to the DVLA and not actually remove licences.
I find your clinical comment interesting. I was also a mandated reporter when i worked in elderly care and we were not required to inform patients or their relatives of this or of any intention to make a report. This was intended to safeguard us as we used to lone work. The reason was that it was considered that in extreme circumstances this disclosure might cause a practitioner to be threatened or attacked.

its simple.
DVLA? yes
Police? No although they can temporarily suspend your driving privileges
Anyone else? no although anyone can contact the DVLA.

As I keep saying, I don't think the OP is giving us the full story and maybe her inlaws didn't give them the full story.

Are we absolutely sure that this wasn't communicated verbally to him by the assessor, something like " in the event that we view your driving to be a danger to the public we will have to report this to the DVLA" I work with families around family and parenting support I always have to let them know verbally before working with them that I am mandated to inform child protection if I have any concerns I would imagine it is similar here.
What would happen if the assessor felt that the driver could endanger lives and did nothing with that informatuon and then an accident did happen? The assessor would be fired

Contacting the DVLA is something anyone can do - you don't need particular authority.

It is possible the OP's relative isn't able to understand the point about authority ... but again, honestly, if you're sufficiently confused that you're not sure who is and is not formally allowed to revoke your licence, there is an issue, isn't there?!

that does not say that they will contact DVLA or that they have any authority to enforce their opinion decision.

Quote from the website OP

However, the time may come when it is simply no longer possible for you to continue to drive safely, and for your own sake, and the sake of other people on the road, you must stop driving, and give up your driving licence.

Far too many older people, men especially, would simply avoid the assessment if they knew there was a chance of losing their license. I wish something like this had existed when my grandfather was elderly.we really struggled to get him to stop driving.

How clear can it be made?

If I were to go off and do pass plus - which is another course explicitly intended to brush up your driving skills - and I drove off the road and into a wall, I would expect the instructor to feel the need to contact the DVLA.

I would not be coming back saying 'hey, that's not fair, I only wanted a refresher course!'

I don't know what happened here, but we all seem to be accepting that a person who hasn't been deemed competent to drive, is somehow competent to report what happened during the assessment, and I think that's a pretty questionable assumption.

And we don't know what happened during this assessment, and clearly something isn't quite adding up, but IME there can be an enormous gap between what someone tells you happened, and what actually happened. When my grandmother was starting to struggle, she reversed at speed into her garage door. No understanding she'd done anything anyone else might not have done. No recognition that it could have been very dangerous in a situation like a car park. To her, it was a little prang that wasn't worth worrying about.

I have to wonder if that sort of thing happened during this assessment, and the OP's relative simply isn't able to recognise that he did something frightening enough to warrent someone getting straight in touch with DVLA rather than recommending refresher lessons.

But what I’m hearing is that the written information about this process is not clear. That should be put right.

The difficult thing is when people are not really able to understand, though, isn't it? That's the whole point.

Some people who are losing capacity are also losing capacity to understand the ramifications of what they are doing. So they don't realise that it's serious when someone suggests their driving needs to be assessed, or they come back from the GP under the impression they've had a friendly suggestion they might cut back, rather than a direct instruction to stop. Or they simply stop being able to recognise that what they're doing is genuinely dangerous rather than mildly eccentric.

You can make the process as transparent as you like, but the fact remains that you are always going to come up against people who can no longer understand why they're not allowed to drive.

The process needs to be fully transparent. People need to understand that losing their licence is a possible consequence of engagement.

wrong wrong wrong https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/introducing-mandatory-eyesight-testing-for-older-drivers

https://www.gov.uk/renew-driving-licence-at-70#more-information

I agree with your sentiment about grumbling about licences being revoked and indeed right now I'm not driving out of choice because I don't feel I have recovered well enough from an injury to be safe to drive.

But having reviewed the website I agree with the op that the language used is not sufficiently clear and indeed seems to deliberately conceal the fact that someone could lose their license as a result of the process

I agree with you.

I think the website is dishonest and deliberately so.

I mean I think one has to understand that any time one gets in a car with a another person whether a professional or not they entitled to conclude we aren't a safe driver and report us to DVLA

But that's by the by- if people are being enticed to do these safe driver assessments on a dishonest basis then that's unacceptable

I find it sad how many elderly drivers drive when they clearly aren't safe, but tricking into having what seems to amount to a test does not seem like the ethical solution

It’s obvious when you are invited to the test? My stepfather had dementia and unfortunately passed the test with flying colours. We thought he was unfit to drive even at that point but within a few months he was an absolute menace nearly causing accidents. Another driver flagged him down and told him he was unfit to drive, so he acknowledged it himself and stopped.

I'm sorry but I agree with this. Regardless of the leaflet, it is well known and has been for a very long time that at a certain age/level of health you can be subject to a driving assessment that can result in your license being taken away. It wasn't called a support session.

Driving rules have changed recently

Over 70s used to be able to self certify every 3 years

Now they will need an optician & another test like the one this person did every 3 years.

No one will be able to self certify

Lots of people ate unaware that these charges have occurred, but they have been on the news

the only people who can revoke a licence are the DVLA. Are you sure you are remembering all the story?

Did your relative have yearly appointments at the optician ?
Because an optician can also advise a patient that their eye site is below the minimum driving standard and not to drive

My mother did an assessment to see if she was fit to drive as recommended by her GP. This was back in 2015. She had early stage dementia, was properly medicated & if you met her in a social setting, you would not have known that she was ill. She had been diagnosed from a MRI.
I can’t remember which organisation did it - it might’ve been ROSPA or a Driving Mobility Centre. We didn’t have to pay.
It was a practical & you were graded green, yellow, orange & red in a variety of categories. Green was fine, yellow was should have refresher driving lessons, if you got enough oranges then it was driving lessons then a retest but any reds meant the licence was revoked.
She failed the assessment.
The examiner told me that her licence was immediately revoked. I’d driven her to the test centre. I drove back home & as soon as possible, I removed the licence from her purse, took the keys & a mechanic friend tinkered with her car’s engine, immobilising it. We returned the licence back to the DVLA. She also received a letter from the DVLA stating that she was unfit to drive. They gave no reasons.
I don’t understand why your uncle took the assessment thinking it would result in him keeping his licence. He was having his driving ability assessed. That’s the whole point of an assessment - to assess your capability. It’s like an exam. You pass or fail! Maybe there is the possibility to retake the assessment now, I don’t know.
I have a medical condition which led to my licence being immediately revoked upon informing the DVLA as per instruction from my doctors. Now everything is stable, my consultants are happy for me to drive so I am assessed by the DVLA every 3 years as to whether I can drive with a medical licence. My consultants are questioned & DVLA medical department assess the results & it takes a balls-achingly long time.
Sadly as a result of the DVLA’s incompetence, they’ve not even scanned my paperwork in to their system - my condition cannot be sorted online - and my licence will be revoked yet again in March, despite me starting the renewal process just before XMAS. However once on the DVLA system, if my consultants feel I’m fit to drive, I can continue to drive under Section 88 of the 1988 Road Traffic Act.
Maybe I’m the wrong person to talk about this… Anyone that grumbles about having their licence revoked for any reason does not have my sympathy. There’s a reason that you’re deemed to be unfit to drive. Get over it.