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Driving in Somerset

Rydon House, Cheddon Road, Taunton TA2 7AZ

Sir: I agree that to deprive older people of transport could seriously inconvenience them (Psychiatric Bulletin, December 2000, 24, 469), however, the new General Medical Council guidelines — Confidentiality; Protecting and Providing Information (2000) specifically states that

"The Agency [DVLA] needs to know when driving licence holders have a condition which may now, or in the future, affect their safety as a driver.... If patients refuse to accept the diagnosis or the effect of the condition on their ability to drive, you can suggest that the patients seek a second opinion, and make appropriate arrangements for the patients to do so. You should advise patients not to drive until the second opinion has been obtained."

No, I do not want to alienate older people with mild cognitive impairment, but I do feel that we have a duty to the public in assessing and monitoring these people. They can, after all, have a driving assessment arranged through regional test centres if they feel they want to appeal against advice not to drive.

References

GENERAL MEDICAL COUNCIL (2000) Confidentiality; Protecting and Providing Information. London: GMC.

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 CrossRef Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Kolowski, S. Search for Related Content PubMed Articles by Kolowski, S.