Doctors will be obliged under new guidelines to report patients who continue to drive even though they are not medically fit to do so.
Elderly drivers are expected to be among those particularly affected as a result of the draft guidance from the General Medical Council (GMC), which described the issue as “difficult territory” for doctors.
The guidance states that GPs have to tell the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) if a patient is driving against medical advice.
As it stands doctors do not need a patient’s consent to inform the DVLA, which is legally responsible for deciding whether a person is medically fit to drive, when a patient has continued driving in such instances.
The strengthened advice obliging them to do so is part of a public consultation on the GMC’s core guidance on confidentiality. It aims to help doctors balance their legal and ethical duties of confidentiality with wider public protection responsibilities.
Niall Dickson, the chief executive of the GMC, said: “This is difficult territory. Most patients will do the sensible thing but the truth is that a few will not and may not have the insight to realise that they are a risk to others behind the wheel of a car.”
“A confidential medical service is a public good and trust is an essential part of the doctor-patient relationship. But confidentiality is not absolute and doctors can play an important part in keeping the wider public safe if a patient is not safe to drive.
“We are clear that doctors carrying out their duty will not face any sanction – and this new guidance makes clear that we will support those who are faced with these difficult decisions.”
The guidance says doctors must disclose information if there is a need to protect individuals or the wider public from the risks of death or serious harm. This can include risks of violent crime, serious communicable diseases, or risks posed by patients who are not fit to drive.
Steve Gooding, director of the RAC Foundation, said: “Thirty-seven million drivers depend on the car for getting about and for those with serious medical conditions there is a real fear around losing their licence.
“But with the right treatment, many illnesses will not lead to people having to hang up the keys. The worst thing motorists can do is ignore medical advice. If they don’t tell the DVLA about something that impacts on their ability to drive safely, then their GP will.”
Neil Greig, director of policy and research at the Institute of Advanced Motorists, said that clarifying the role of GPs was a very positive road safety move. “Our research shows that drivers are much more likely to listen to a medical professional giving them advice about giving up driving than to their friends or family,” he said.
It emerged earlier this year that hundreds of motorists have had their driving licence revoked after failing roadside eye tests under new police powers. Figures obtained under the Freedom of Information Act showed since the powers were introduced in 2013, forces across Britain applied 631 times to revoke licences based on failed attempts to read number plates.
In 609 of the cases, the DVLA revoked the drivers’ licences.