DVLA Revoked licence re diabetes. Reasons not true. WWYD ?

[Oblomov]

DVLA sent letter to say that my licence has been revoked. Came back from 10 days holiday yesterday, to this. Such a shock. Diabetic consultant reviews me, fills out form. Ring her. On a sunday. She's not impressed. But then neither am I !!
She seems very dismissive. 'Oh well, we can come up with a plan to persuade them that we can make things better, lets meet in a week'.
But she never said she had concerns at the time of filling the form out.My dh is not happy.
I can not get to work. It is only a 20 minute commute, by car. But takes over 2 hours on the train, with 3 changes.
Plus, there is no valid reason.
The form says that I have lost awareness of an impending hypo, thus I could be dangerous to drive. That I have lost my warning signs. But this is not true. My warning signs are as good as ever, in fact have got a tiny bit better over the last month, 3 months and 6 months.
My dh spoke to the consultant aswell, and said he had no concerns at all.

But I feel so powerless. someone , somewhere has ticked a box , by accident, saying no, when really the answer is yes.
But my work will go mad. I can't work. I may lose my job. I am supposed to drive to the hospital tomorrow to finalise ds1's Aspergers diagnosis letter.
This is a nightmare, and I am not sure what to do.

Thank you everyone.
AnnieLob, you sweetie.
My head is spinning. I am trying so hard to figure her out, but I seem unable to. She is the top consultant in the country, almost worldwide known. She is nothing but professional.
So thats WHY, I can't work out quite what is going on here.
I must be missing something. she obviously has concerns. And I can't work out where to go with her, next.
I rang her on sunday. And then her secretary today. twice, pre and post dvla phonecalls.
I can not ring her again. She is probably well narked already.

xalala, oh god, don't tell me that. poor you. Sometimes it all seems a bit 'unjust'. The injustice of it all.

Could you contact Diabetes UK, see if they have any suggestions?

oblomov - i wouldnt care about her being 'narked'
i would be narking her as much as possible until she faxes the dvla

I'm so sorry you're stuck in the middle of this.

I can't drive for medical reasons which are probably reasonable, and yet know how easy it is for medical misinformation to take on a life and a force of its own.

I agree with carrying on narking the consultant until she sorts this out. It's her job, she can (probably) drive anywhere she wants and she is (probably) paid a lot more than you for her job. And if you were having a sudden dangerous diabetic episode on a Sunday, the hospital would be calling her in anyway.

I'm horrified by this as worried this could happen to me...i have some hypo unawareness but i have never had a hypo at wheel and always make sure my blood sugar is 7 before driving..so far so good

BUT..i did read somewhere that the rules re driving and type 1 D have changed..will see if i can find the link

Oblomov that sounds awful. Particularly because it sounds like your consultant is not treating you as a full participant in this. Top consultant or not, if she can't treat you as an adult is she really worth continuing with? If she had a reservation about this she should have discussed it with you and suggested alternate treatment plans not just fired off a letter to the DVLA without telling you.

I'd suggest posting on this board www.diabetes.co.uk/diabetes-forum/. You're likely to get a few sanctimonious responses but will find more people who've been through this and can give relevant advice.

I'm sure there are complaint processes you could go through against your consultant but I'd reserve that for once you've actually got the situation resolved as there's no point antagonising her at the moment. I would point out though that if she was so concerned in April she should be able to produce the non-existant letter to you copying your GP regarding these concerns. If your hypo unawareness was such a cause for concern there should be a record noting it as it would be unlikely to affect just driving but every aspect of your life.

Good luck.

Hello Paddy and Tigger.
Nice to see you. How are you both ?
Well, dh said, don't phone again, lets see what happens. But I couldn't help myself. I phoned at 1.15pm and spoke to her secretary. She was off sick yesterday and had just come in. she only works mon, tue, fri. she told me she was working till 4. She had already listened to my 2 long messages left yesterday and pulled out the last letter to me from consultant, which they always send a summary of your 1/4ly hospital appointmetn ( this was the one in april, where the dvla form was also completed), and the dvla form that the dvla sends tot he consultant to be filled in, whilst I am there ( at the appointment in april).
I explained AGAIN, it all to her. She asked for an e-mail.
Now I am not a touch typist and was aware that I needed to be speedy to get something off to her, to allow her any time to action it.
I said to her, you are not going to be able to get this, read it, go to the professor, agree a letter, get that done, get her to sign it, and get it faxed to dvla, by 4pm, are you ?

Anyway I write it and send it. I go to pick up ds1. I make a rash decision and decide to phone her again, pre her 4 pm leaving time, and tell her thta I am so unhappy with their lack of urgency, that I want to make a complaint.
I get home. she has aknowledged receipt of my e-mail and says she is taking the information over to the professor now.

I am making some notes, especially some of Paddys, re where is the concern in april ? letter ? and will take this up.

I have had a fax. She is prepared to fax to the dvla, once she has in writing, the assurances my husband gave her, on the phone, on sunday.
Dh is e-mailing her secretary now.
What a nightmare.

Well, that's good news, I'm glad you've got some progress.

Well - thank God for that! I hope the DVLA will accept the fax and reinstate you asap

That's something, Oblomov! I hope they sort it out asap and don't make you wait for 12m or anything, especially as it appears to have been a mistake in the first place.

Glad to hear things might be moving in the right direction! Hope it gets sorted soon.

You could try this forum for advice, too: www.diabetessupport.co.uk/boards/ - much friendlier than the other one IME.

Sounds a lot more hopeful! Fingers crossed!

Out of interest..do you have any retinopathy?...i have some cotton wool spots and a few minor leaks..am bricking it in case the new rules ban me from driving :S

FWIW I've had a vitrectomy in both right (2007) and left (2011) eye after prolonged and persistant bleeds, and still hold a license... (well, now I've got it back, at any rate!). I do have to keep doing the field tests every time I apply, but no problems so far.

And if you get offered a pump, don't go mad on improving control within the first month, that's what caused my eyes to go bonkers.

No eyes problems here. Have been on a pump for 8 years and started a sensor 2 months ago. Infact I left her office, after the dreaded DVLA form filling in, in april, and went next door to have my sensor fitted for the first time.
One has to question what the frickin point of that was.
Especially seeing as if you tick the box for 'hypo unawareness' on the dvla form, that gives you total disqualification immediately, without any of the other questions being relevant. surely the Proffesor knew this, so it can hardly have come as a shock to her to find that I've been revoked.
It only came as a shock to me, because I did not know that she had ticked that box.
Dh is coming with me to the hospital on monday. I am seeing another doctor. she said she would 'pop in'. Given the circumstances, thta isn't good enough. I have asked her secretary for confirmation that she will see me.

The Consultant sounds awful- why were these concerns not discussed before so that you might have been able to make other plans? Does this Consultant really know anything? I would get a 2nd opinion and complain

Glad to hear things are moving Oblomov. Although I tend to reserve this for appts that I really think need it (e.g. scans or if a battle is going on) I'm a big fan of taking someone with you for appts. It's really hard having to both discuss yourself ie your control and then defend your actions against someone aggressive when it's such a personal subject. I find it much easier to have someone there either to fight my corner (so I can appear reasonable) or to insert another note into a dispute and make it a more constructive discussion.

Remember you are the expert on your diabetes because you live with it day in and out and have been doing so for rather longer than your consultant has been practicing endocrinology at a good guess.

So, dh and I go to an emergency appointment with the Professor at the hosptal yesterday. It costs us over £100 and both of us to get there, with ds2, a days holiday each, but hey. she agrees to fax. after 2 hrs of talking.
I ring her secretary this smonrting. nothing has been done. then a fax is sent.
I ring the dvla.
wait for it. the promise of it being reviewed in 2 days is with-tracted. withdrawn. the manager tells me the member of staff that told me this ( there were 2, I was told twice) was not entitled to. they made a mistake. and he could could not guarantee it. he would try his best. could take 3 days to get the fax scanned. then 2 days for the doctors to review it. a decision within 3 weeks. and this as a 'priority case'.

I have an appointment with the school today who dismiss ds1 diagnosis as aspergers and say they see no problems with him in school. I have asked the school link worker and pwp to attend with me. it is pointmess. I get nowhere.

I am out in the garden ironing at the moment. I start to sob. sometimes it is all too much.

Oblomov I'm so sorry to hear that.

Only possible suggestion I can make is to go to the DVLA in Swansea (if that's where these twits are) make an appointment to see them and burst into tears. (My proposed method of getting the GP to give me more glucagon after the receptionists refused to pass on the prescription as urgent when I'd had 2 comas in 3 days. I thought it made more sense to burst into tears in a doctor's surgery with everyone around than the toilets at work )

You will get through this. You are really strong to manage with all these things going on at once and surviving alone is a major achievement. Crying is also a coping mechanism and a perfectly good one!

Would it be helpful to get your GP to sign you off work with a sick note for a week so you have time to deal with ds1's school and batter the DVLA?

Lots of virtual hugs too!

Thank you Tigger.
I have an phone appointment with GP on thursday. I might play that as my trump card if I have to, i.e. asking to be signed off, but really I don't want to.

Good luck with the GP tomorrow, and fingers crossed for the DVLA to pull their collective fingers out and review your case!

I remember looking up some info on diabetes and driving on the direct gov website. It might be too basic or might give you some reassurance.

You can see another consultant for a second opinion at any time you want and it sounds like you need to. Only a letter from another consultant will make the DVLA consider reinstating your license.