DVLA

[Ashmag]

Hello everyone, thanks in advance for help with this.

I had a seizure in September and having seen the consultant on Friday, he's happy for me to reapply for my driving licence for after February.

Im filling in the forms and like everything else with the Dvla, it's complicated.

How do i go about getting the bit filled in which is for the consultant?

Do I need a photo for this?

Is it a long drawn out process?

Thanks, Scott

[Emeraldgal]

I live in Northern Ireland so I'm not sure how long the process will take tbh, I waited for quite a long time. I think it would have to be your GP that fills in your form, not the consultant so maybe contact them to confirm. Your consultant will let your GP know by computerized notes, they will maybe put you through a driving assessment which is not a test, just to see how your driving is and to see if your concentration levels are up to scratch. I would imagine the process is similar to ours. Hope you get good results and wish you the best 🙏

[Shreds]

Definitely your GP. He/she will have been sent your medical records anyway for your ongoing care.

DVLA can be a bit iffy and slow sometimes.

You are likely to find you have to go six months after your last operation (or date of incident if no op) before they will consider reissuing your licence sometimes with conditions or they might require an extended period say 12 months in some cases, in which your doc will have to verify you have been seizure free.

I got my doc to send a letter first class, in advance to DVLA otherwise its a bureaucratic process of them writing letters, posting them at the end of the week and maybe your doc preoccupied with organising and delivering Covid jabs.

In the meanwhile you could wreak havoc on a pedal bike because their “policy” doesnt cover that!

You dont need a new photo, they will use your old one in most cases with new dates applied. Mine came back superfast in a fortnight but I think my doc and consultant’s sign off letter that was sent, satisfied the tick box mentality of the civil servants. They dont understand medical issues so rely on those who do.

[AndrewT]

I'm NOT a Driver, so I don't really know, but one 'Thing' Occurs to me.... Since your actually Seeing, your Consultant- why not ask Him/Her?

AndrewT

[Ashmag]

Thanks to everyone for that It says Consultant on the form but I could try ringing the doctor first to get some advice.

It will be 6 months on February 21st but with covid, the dvla are letting you apply 8 weeks before your date. I would have done that but only got the ok on Friday so I'm starting out now.

As for asking the consultant then, you're joking, I had 5 minutes max before he opened the door and give me my leave.

The previous 4.5 minutes spent explaining what happened in September.

As I say, thanks for the input.

[Hidden]

My gp filled mine in and it was sent to DVLA but because my Dr had put tbi on the form they sent back that they wanted more specifics on the tbi and if I was safe to drive when he did that I got my licence back,if your Dr thinks your fit to drive ask him to put that on an additional note and send it with the form,good luck

[Ashmag]

Thanks for that Jodac

[Kezza72]

You have to be seizure free for 12 months. DVLA don’t take into consideration what a consultant says I’m afraid. They are really strict.

[Hedwig57]

I had a stroke last August (SAH) and filled the forms in to alert DVLA. They contacted my consultant in November who told me he recommended there was no problem. I have chased them up and have recently involved my MP. I guess things have not been helped by a mass COVID outbreak at DVLA which apparently was forcing staff to work!

[moo196]

I seem to recall that the dvla contacted the consultant directly. He was quite swift in his response, but dvla were sloooo... And that's without covid. I had to wait an extra 3 months because of their delay.Get the forms in ASAP.

Good luck!

[APAscot]

I have an arterio venous malformation (AVM) in the brain which causes epilepsy- hopefully now controlled by medication, although we had hoped that before but it wasn’t to be. After my first seizure I was told I had to stop driving for 12 months. Horrific for me. I then had a mini seizure after 10 days so was then back to another 12 months. My last “big” episode was four years ago now but at that time it was still 12 months. If it’s now 6 months you’re very lucky but DVLA will ask you how long since your last seizure. They will ask for your consultant and doctor’s details and I think they contacted both of mine. Good luck. I was told if I hadn’t got my licence back in time but hadn’t had another seizure I could drive.

[APAscot]

I should add you don’t need another photo they just revise your current licence.

[Ashmag]

Thanks for that! The 6 months thing was only what the specialist said, as I also bumped my head which could have contributed to it. The Dvla might well say 12 but I'm going to give it a go.

Thanks again