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Advice given to psychiatric in-patients concerning driving

a completed audit cycle

South Warwickshire Combined Care NHS Trust, St Michael's Hospital, St Michael's Road, Warwick CV34 5QW

Sir: There is evidence to suggest that people suffering from psychiatric disorder are more likely to be involved in road traffic accidents (Silverstone, 1988). Moreover, there is a clear expectation that doctors should offer advice to their patients regarding their fitness to drive. It is therefore good practice not only to give such advice to patients but to document the advice adequately.

We examined the case notes of 45 patients consecutively discharged from an acute psychiatric hospital. In only four cases (9%) was there any evidence of advice having been given concerning driving. Following an educational programme to highlight this issue a further 60 case notes were examined, demonstrating no improvement in the recording of advice. This was evident even among those patients known to be drivers and who met Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) criteria for requiring guidance (DVLA, 2001).

There are many reasons why advice regarding fitness to drive may not be passed on to patients or documented in their case notes (Humphreys & Roy, 1995; Morgan, 1998). Failure to share the information with our patients may have lasting consequences; for the patient, the health professional and the general public. It is therefore important to highlight this issue and to incorporate it into clinical governance.

References

DVLA (2001) Ata Glance Guide to the Current Medical Standards of Fitness to Drive. Swansea: DVLA.

HUMPHREYS, S. & ROY, L. (1995) Driving and psychiatric illness. Psychiatric Bulletin, 19, 747-749.[Abstract/Free Full Text]

MORGAN, J. F. (1998) DVLA and GMC guidelines in ‘Fitness to Drive’ and psychiatric disorders: knowledge following an educational campaign. Medicine, Science and the Law, 38, 28-31.

SILVERSTONE, T. (1988) Influence of psychiatric disease and its treatment on driving performance. International Clinical Psychopharmacology, 3(Suppl 1) 59-66.

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This Article Submit an eLetter Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via CrossRef Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Rowe, R. Articles by Owen, A. Search for Related Content PubMed Articles by Rowe, R. Articles by Owen, A.