Audit in occupational medicine: an audit of fitness to drive among voluntary drivers in an NHS trust.

BACKGROUND A health surveillance programme, to assess fitness to drive, was initiated for voluntary drivers in an NHS Trust because of reports of increasing frailty and slow reactions among some drivers. After discussion between the occupational health department, voluntary services manager and personnel department it was considered appropriate to apply Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA) Group 2 fitness to drive standards to those voluntary drivers who drove the Trusts minibuses. RESULTS An audit of the initial health surveillance of 47 drivers is presented. The mean age of the voluntary drivers was 66.4 years. A large number of medical problems with the potential to affect driving were discovered (average of 1.9 medical problems per driver). The outcome was that five voluntary drivers were found unfit to drive the hospital minibus and one voluntary driver was found unfit for car driving. CONCLUSIONS A fitness assessment form for drivers is presented. This form is primarily for the use of occupational health nurses, to help them to decide when referral to an occupational health physician is indicated.