Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that drivers with type 2 diabetes are not prescribed medications known to cause hypoglycaemic events.

My Rt. Hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Transport’s key responsibility is to maintain road safety for all road users. Those who are not medically fit to drive should not be issued with a driving licence. Information on the current medical standards of fitness to drive can be found at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/at-a-glance

It is for motorists with diabetes to inform the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) when they have experienced a severe hypoglycaemic event. The DVLA provides information to drivers with diabetes and to healthcare professionals on the symptoms of hypoglycaemia. A guide for people with diabetes on when to inform the DVLA depending on how their condition is treated and the type of licence held is available at:

https://www.gov.uk/diabetes-driving

The DVLA has also issued new information for drivers with insulin-treated diabetes completing DIAB-1 medical forms which makes it clear what is meant by a ‘severe hypoglycaemic event’.

Healthcare professionals who prescribe and supply any medicines, including those for diabetes that may affect their driving should advise patients not to drive if the medicine causes drowsiness.