From 20 July 2022, the law was changed to enable healthcare professionals other than doctors to complete DVLA medical questionnaires following notification of a medical condition that may affect an individual’s driving. This includes Orthoptists and other HCPC registrants.

The change in the law allows these professionals to complete DVLA medical forms following deferment by a doctor. The DVLA will continue to send questionnaires to GMC-registered doctors and consultants, and it will then be up to individual GP practices and hospital teams as to which healthcare professional in practice is best placed to complete the questionnaire.

Orthoptists are also entitled to a fee from the DVLA for completion of these questionnaires, previously only available to doctors.  As such, this is work that should be done outside of NHS time as a self-employed Orthoptist, much like a medico-legal report, where the Orthoptist would charge individually.

Orthoptists looking to provide any information as part of a DVLA medical questionnaire should familiarise themselves fully with chapter 6 of the Assessing Fitness to Drive guidance, and discuss with colleagues or the DVLA Medical Team if they are uncertain about how to interpret guidance in relation to individual patients.

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If you are interested in finding out more:

Read more about changes here.

Access the BIOS response to consultation here.