UKC

Hi all, I am booked in for the above procedure on my right shoulder in March. I have been advised by my surgeon that I shouldn't rive for two weeks as I wouldn't be insured.

To be on the safe side, Ive checked with my insurer, Churchill, and they say that they have no expectations with surgery and they wont fail to insure me even within 2 weeks. They have said that if I am confident, comfortable and my surgeon says its OK then they have no issues. I had my left shoulder done for the same reason about ten years ago and I was very comfortable to drive within about 5 days.

Ive looked online and cant find anything specific with the DVLA which mandates two week's rest. Does anyone know what the situation is as I drive pretty extensively for my work.

Thanks

Richard

In reply to TheDrunkenBakers:

You need to follow exactly what your surgeon says.DVLA will only follow the medical opinion given to you.

Put it this way if you have an accident and your surgeon told you not to drive, you would feel a right pillock.

In reply to TheDrunkenBakers:

I think the insurer have been pretty clear with you.

" if I am confident, comfortable and my surgeon says its OK then they have no issues"

To cover yourself, discuss with your surgeon and get a statement that they are happy for you to drive. also note the time and date you were given this advice over the phone 9they can then look it up to verify if a dispute arose)

Please remember that just because you feel OK to drive normally, you also need to consider how well you could react in an emergency.

In reply to balmybaldwin:



This is the ultimate crux. I would only be happy to drive if I was completely or near completely pain free. I have pain in my shoulder now but i could react in a normal way in an emergency. If it was no worse then i would be perfectly happy and fully capable of dealing with any emergency situation.

In reply to TheDrunkenBakers:


How much would it knacker up your ability to check over your shoulder? Might be why the surgeon is advising against.
It might also just be one of their patients insurance companies didnt insure and the surgeon errs on the side of caution and tells everyone the same.

In reply to KevinD:


Fine, it doesnt impede this ability, its the pain when I raise my arm.


Possibly

In reply to TheDrunkenBakers:

My wife had this done - perhaps you were lucky, but it took her many weeks before she could drive

In reply to TheDrunkenBakers:
My understanding is that from a DVLA regulation basis it is the responsibility of the driver to ensure they they are fit to drive and can ensure that they can handle and be in control of the vehicle at all times. The driver must be able to demonstrate this to Police if required. This is the same before and after your operation.

So primarily you can decide when to resume driving as long as you have not specifically been told not to drive, but within all the best available advice given to you. That is the catch - if you were to have or be shown to have caused an accident, and if was discovered your surgeon told you not to drive, you would have problems all round. The vagueness is when your surgeon mentioned rather than advised you not to drive.

To help cover you, you should ask the surgeon again ideally after the operation and confirm what that advice is for - to help recovery or because he thinks you are unlikely to be fit to drive in full control for say two weeks. If in any doubt, assuming you don't want to get an independent driving assessment which is another route though usually for long term medical conditions, you should not drive for the 2 weeks or whatever period your surgeon talks about.