Fylde MP Mark Menzies has pressed the Government to speed up the process of medical reviews for driving licences.
Mr Menzies wrote to the Secretary of State for Transport after helping several constituents who faced lengthy waits to have their driving licences either returned following illnesses or renewed while living with medical conditions.
He wrote to the Secretary of State for Transport and asked: “what steps he is taking to (a) reduce delays and (b) improve the experience of people requiring a medical review when renewing their driving licence.”
Transport minister Jesse Norman told him: “The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) makes around 745,000 medical licensing decisions each year and aims to complete 90 per cent of these within 90 working days.
“The length of time taken to deal with an application depends on the medical condition involved and whether information is needed from medical professionals.
“The DVLA has recruited additional staff to process medical applications and notifications. This includes increasing the number of doctors and introducing nurse caseworkers to deal with specific conditions.
“The DVLA is also working with third parties, for example, GPs, consultants and opticians, to reduce the time taken to receive the information it requires to make licensing decisions.
“The DVLA also provides an online service for customers to notify a medical condition or renew a driving licence previously issued following a medical condition. The DVLA continually reviews its processes and has a dedicated team responsible for the improvement of its medical driver licensing services and communications.”
Mr Menzies said: “Too many times I hear about lengthy delays with these applications – and I am extremely concerned to hear some licence holders are given less time to reapply for the renewal of a licence than it takes to get the relevant and required medical appoint. They should not have to stop driving due to a delay in getting an appointment.
“These timings must be improved and I will be keeping a close eye on the situation.”