davidmac Posted February 6, 2017 Share Posted February 6, 2017 Hi went and had my 70th birthday D4 medical two weeks ago at my doctors and sent all paperwork off last Tuesday (30th) . DLVA sent forms back today, the doctor had filled in eyesight results to wrong chart and missed 3 tick boxes relating to egg readings. The medical cost £80 and as I have booked a week in the Cannaries towards the end of the month for a birthday treat and might need my driving licence. I am not best pleased.Should have gone to a specialist driver medical company, 4 miles up the road, £10 less and knowing what they were doing. Regards David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
starvin marvin Posted February 6, 2017 Share Posted February 6, 2017 You live and learn, or at least you should! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidmac Posted February 6, 2017 Author Share Posted February 6, 2017 Yes live and learn, month today is my birthday. but will probably need another 70 to keep up with the things that go on today. Regards David P.S. When working I was self employed so everything was down to me so I tried really hard to get thing right first time. Wish that others would. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caddies104 Posted February 7, 2017 Share Posted February 7, 2017 Hi David I went to my doctor last year and he wanted £110, so googled for a doctor nearby that did the medicals, found one that only charged £50 ! . Why should our own Doctors charge so much for 1/2 hours work..?? Never had a problem with what he did. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robbo Posted February 7, 2017 Share Posted February 7, 2017 I had the same problem as the OP. The GP incorrectly completed the D4. I should have checked it myself but assumed the doctor was familiar with the process. The delay of resubmitting meant the new driving license didn't arrive till after my 70th birthday. Phoned the DVLA prior to 70th, they checked my case notes and advised I could drive during the intervening period. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StuartO Posted February 7, 2017 Share Posted February 7, 2017 Robbo - 2017-02-07 9:25 AMI had the same problem as the OP. The GP incorrectly completed the D4. I should have checked it myself but assumed the doctor was familiar with the process..... Therein lies the problem; GPs are busy people and few of them will do enough HGV medicals to get practised with the Form D4, so they either skim it and complete quickly or over-run the appointment to read and complete every line accurately, as they should. Most GP practices will only do small numbers of insurance-type medicals and will regard them as more trouble than worth, even charging £110. From a 70 yr old driver's viewpoint the easiest (and cheapest) way to get the D4 Form completed is to use one of the specialist doctors or companies which gear themselves up to do lots of HGV medicals and can still make money charging only £50 or so. You are meeting the DVLA requirement this way but might run into difficulties if you have medical problems which require digging into your records or test results, which the HGV doctor won't have, so you end up having to use the GP anyway and pay twice (or more). It's worth trying the specialist HGV service first. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanedwin Posted February 7, 2017 Share Posted February 7, 2017 Didn't know your egg consumption was part of the medical? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HymerVan Posted February 8, 2017 Share Posted February 8, 2017 Don't trust your doctor ? Hang on a minute ! My doctors practice have looked after me from cradle to ..................well lets wait and see ,having both been born in same year as the NHS. If I didn't trust my doctor I wouldn't be using that practice because you literally put your life in their hands. And yes doctors may not be 100% perfect. That is partially because they are very busy (they are not the only profession who lead busy lives) but also because they are human. Personally I will not be using an outside doctor to do my D4 because I value the professional relationship that I have with my doctor and also because if anything in my medical history needs explanation the GP has access to it. A couple of years ago I had a medical where my file was on the table. It had notes all the way back to birth and was about 4 inches thick ! Remember the object of the medical is to assess fitness to drive it not just a tick box hurdle to be got over so using your own GP will give you a degree of reassurance and if you need to appeal a decision by DVLA you will may well need your GP on board anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
747 Posted February 8, 2017 Share Posted February 8, 2017 I had my medical last Friday and as I have a few health issues (hopefully fairly minor), I used my own GP, who charged £85. Don't forget that if you use a different Doctor and tell any porkies about your health, you not only put other road users at risk but face prosecution and your Insurance becoming void if you have an accident Beforehand, I downloaded and printed off the D4 Form. I used my Optician for the eyesight page (who did this free of charge) and after the GP completed the D4, I copied everything on to the downloaded copy for reference. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StuartO Posted February 8, 2017 Share Posted February 8, 2017 747 - 2017-02-08 8:52 AMI had my medical last Friday and as I have a few health issues (hopefully fairly minor), I used my own GP, who charged £85. Don't forget that if you use a different Doctor and tell any porkies about your health, you not only put other road users at risk but face prosecution and your Insurance becoming void if you have an accidentBeforehand, I downloaded and printed off the D4 Form. I used my Optician for the eyesight page (who did this free of charge) and after the GP completed the D4, I copied everything on to the downloaded copy for reference. being presented with incomplete detail which the GP could have provided from records to make enquiries which could escalate into a saga and a requirement for expensive cardiac tests or specialist referral. Telling porkies or omiting to mention relevant medical history is certainly tempting fate (eg because your insurers might use that, if it comes out, to repudiate a claim) even though it's perhaps an exaggeration to suggest that it automatically puts other road users at risk. I think you were lucky to get a freebie from the optician and to have a GP who charges on £85. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
747 Posted February 8, 2017 Share Posted February 8, 2017 StuartO - 2017-02-08 9:09 AM747 - 2017-02-08 8:52 AMI had my medical last Friday and as I have a few health issues (hopefully fairly minor), I used my own GP, who charged £85. Don't forget that if you use a different Doctor and tell any porkies about your health, you not only put other road users at risk but face prosecution and your Insurance becoming void if you have an accidentBeforehand, I downloaded and printed off the D4 Form. I used my Optician for the eyesight page (who did this free of charge) and after the GP completed the D4, I copied everything on to the downloaded copy for reference.being presented with incomplete detail which the GP could have provided from records to make enquiries which could escalate into a saga and a requirement for expensive cardiac tests or specialist referral. Telling porkies or omiting to mention relevant medical history is certainly tempting fate (eg because your insurers might use that, if it comes out, to repudiate a claim) even though it's perhaps an exaggeration to suggest that it automatically puts other road users at risk. I think you were lucky to get a freebie from the optician and to have a GP who charges on £85.The Driver of the Glasgow Bin Motor told porkies about his blackouts, killing 4 people at Xmas time. Some motorhome owners are still working, some of them as HGV drivers. The temptation will be very strong when your livelihood is at stake (I am talking about younger drivers, not the 70 year olds). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StuartO Posted February 8, 2017 Share Posted February 8, 2017 747 - 2017-02-08 9:57 AM The Driver of the Glasgow Bin Motor told porkies about his blackouts, killing 4 people at Xmas time. Some motorhome owners are still working, some of them as HGV drivers. The temptation will be very strong when your livelihood is at stake (I am talking about younger drivers, not the 70 year olds). That tragic tale serves to show an important weakness of our driver licensing system, that a selfish and determined individual can simply tell lies, use different doctors and beat the system because it does not make robust checks. Over 100,000 people were banned from driving last year and quite a number (I forget the figure, around 5,000) were convicted of driving while banned, in some cases as many as four times in one year. These people probably cannot get insurance so they just drive anyway, knowing they probably won't go to jail, even if they have been driving really dangerously, eg to escape from the police, and if they get a fine they won't pay it anyway. There is clearly no effective deterrent and these outlaws will kill or injure people sooner or later. You do also get cases of selfish old folk who are determined to carry on driving when they should stop but I doubt they kill many people. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidmac Posted February 8, 2017 Author Share Posted February 8, 2017 Hi my doctor has amended my form and it will be in the post tomorrow morning. Points that have been raised by others here do have some relevance to me. I live in a village six miles outside Bedford. I had been registered with a doctors practice in Bedford since I was a child and had only two doctors, the second taking over when the first retired. About eight years ago a new medical centre/practice opened in the village, being more accessible I signed on. Although not a frequent visitor to the health centre, when I do need to go I seem to see a different doctor every time. When on holiday last spring in Italy I had a severe pain in my chest late one evening, at the time I thought is this a heart attack? After two,three minutes the pain went, the next morning I felt fine so carried on with the trip. On arriving home went to the doctors ,had a couple of e.c.g (not egg) tests, got refered to Papworth and Bedford hospitals for further tests which all came back negative, no problems detected. Because of this I had decided to have my D4 medical at my doctors rather than the specialist. This episode meant five visits to the doctor,each time seeing a different doctor. I think that nowadays you are supposed to have a named doctor as yours, mine is Dr M........... who is running the practice, of all the different doctors I have seen she is not among them. Regards David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidmac Posted February 21, 2017 Author Share Posted February 21, 2017 Hi new licence arrived in the post yesterday. Eleven days including two weekends for dvla to sort it, thumbs up to them. Regards David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nowtelse2do Posted February 21, 2017 Share Posted February 21, 2017 Most doctors now do the medical outside of surgery hours and charge £100+. My local doctor puts aside one night a week and normally does three medicals in a hour, but not mine anymore. Google... HGV medicals, prices vary from £40 to £60. Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
firedecisions Posted February 25, 2017 Share Posted February 25, 2017 Slightly different experience, this time with HGV. Medical at work for the HGV renewal at 50 used the Occupational Health Doctor, who didn't know me, he ticked a wrong box (just to be on the safe side he said - wont make any difference) well that resulted in a letter from DVLA saying they would investigate, they wrote to my GP who then need to see me to comply with DVLA rules, cleared the matter up in 30 seconds and licence renewed after that. So I would always use my own GP in future. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
747 Posted February 25, 2017 Share Posted February 25, 2017 I got my Licence renewed within 10 days (including 2 weekends). I had some medical issues regarding eyes and cardiac but both must have been classed as minor as I did not need any follow up by DVLA. The only downside is that I am not 70 until mid April and the expiry date on my new licence is 09/02/2020. I rang them up to ask if this was correct and was told that the date they produce the new licence is the date it is effective from. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidmac Posted February 25, 2017 Author Share Posted February 25, 2017 Hi 747 my birthday is 6th march and that is the expiry date (2020) on my new licence. Regards David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bulletguy Posted February 25, 2017 Share Posted February 25, 2017 747 - 2017-02-08 9:57 AM The Driver of the Glasgow Bin Motor told porkies about his blackouts, killing 4 people at Xmas time. Some motorhome owners are still working, some of them as HGV drivers. The temptation will be very strong when your livelihood is at stake (I am talking about younger drivers, not the 70 year olds). Killed six and injured 15 other people. Sadly the legal system in Scotland differs to that of England, Wales and NI which has enabled Clarke to roam free. He's since been caught twice driving a car with no licence and shows zero remorse whatsoever. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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