Taxi Driver Online :: View topic - failed taxi medical

Your diabetic team/clinic should have your long term Hbac thingy results on file for years, ask them

the day to day tests are pointless and i got told not to bother

You should be able to claim Universal Credit but wont get anything for a month from the claim team being happy

wannabeeahack wrote:

Wannabee, Were you using Insulin?
DocG, I have to test mine before every shift and it has to be within certain limits or I can't drive. I only ever had a problem with a meter fail once and I went straight to the surgery and the diabetic nurse gave me a new one there and then. If the rules state 3 months figures then it has to be the drivers responsibility to do the required tests. The fact that some tests have been missed would suggest to me that you shouldn't have been driving until you could test again. Unfortunately the rules are there for a reason.

Any help/advice anyone can give would be greatly appreciated

Grandad, I think you misunderstand me.

I religiously took and take tests when Im working, as the law says.

However the meter went belly up, and all the data logged on it went west.

I got a replacement soon after (this week) but as the data has gone from the last meter I am effectively
stuffed - I cant provide them with the 3 months they need.

Your diabetic team/clinic should have your long term Hbac thingy results on file for years, ask them

the day to day tests are pointless and i got told not to bother

I’m a type 2 diabetic on insulin, never had any problems with it.

I’ve just seen my doctor for my taxi medical. He won’t sign me off because I can’t provide three months blood readings.
In my case that’s impossible because the meter I was using failed, and I have only recently been able to store them again on another machine.

I don’t have a clue what do, can I seek a concession from the council? can I get benefits because I can’t work as a Hack?

Any help/advice anyone can give would be greatly appreciated

DocG wrote:

Hindsight is a wonderful thing. I keep a seperate graph of my readings just for such problems.

grandad wrote:

DocG wrote:

Hindsight is a wonderful thing. I keep a seperate graph of my readings just for such problems.

Certainly a good idea to keep some sort of back up record (written data or on a spreadsheet, for example), but suspect reason Group 2 criteria requires "blood glucose self-monitoring records for the previous 3 months stored on the memory of a blood glucose meter" is because it's then more difficult to falsify the readings.

Thought doctors could do a blood a blood test which would give the average sugar levels for a 12month period.

Author:	DocG [ Thu May 03, 2018 6:07 pm ]
Post subject:	failed taxi medical - diabetes
I’m a type 2 diabetic on insulin, never had any problems with it. I’ve just seen my doctor for my taxi medical. He won’t sign me off because I can’t provide three months blood readings. In my case that’s impossible because the meter I was using failed, and I have only recently been able to store them again on another machine. I don’t have a clue what do, can I seek a concession from the council? can I get benefits because I can’t work as a Hack? Any help/advice anyone can give would be greatly appreciated

Author:	wannabeeahack [ Thu May 03, 2018 6:54 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: failed taxi medical - diabetes
Your diabetic team/clinic should have your long term Hbac thingy results on file for years, ask them the day to day tests are pointless and i got told not to bother You should be able to claim Universal Credit but wont get anything for a month from the claim team being happy

Author:	grandad [ Thu May 03, 2018 7:19 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: failed taxi medical - diabetes
wannabeeahack wrote: Your diabetic team/clinic should have your long term Hbac thingy results on file for years, ask them the day to day tests are pointless and i got told not to bother You should be able to claim Universal Credit but wont get anything for a month from the claim team being happy Wannabee, Were you using Insulin? DocG, I have to test mine before every shift and it has to be within certain limits or I can't drive. I only ever had a problem with a meter fail once and I went straight to the surgery and the diabetic nurse gave me a new one there and then. If the rules state 3 months figures then it has to be the drivers responsibility to do the required tests. The fact that some tests have been missed would suggest to me that you shouldn't have been driving until you could test again. Unfortunately the rules are there for a reason.

Author:	wannabeeahack [ Thu May 03, 2018 7:23 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: failed taxi medical - diabetes
grandad wrote: wannabeeahack wrote: Your diabetic team/clinic should have your long term Hbac thingy results on file for years, ask them the day to day tests are pointless and i got told not to bother You should be able to claim Universal Credit but wont get anything for a month from the claim team being happy Wannabee, Were you using Insulin? DocG, I have to test mine before every shift and it has to be within certain limits or I can't drive. I only ever had a problem with a meter fail once and I went straight to the surgery and the diabetic nurse gave me a new one there and then. If the rules state 3 months figures then it has to be the drivers responsibility to do the required tests. The fact that some tests have been missed would suggest to me that you shouldn't have been driving until you could test again. Unfortunately the rules are there for a reason. Im type 2 but not on insulin, my Hbac1 is level at 7.5 +/- .5. Our council has no specific notes for diabetics

Author:	Sussex [ Thu May 03, 2018 7:26 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: failed taxi medical - diabetes
DocG wrote: Any help/advice anyone can give would be greatly appreciated My council will only require a log if a driver has reported an episode in the past year. I think that includes those using insulin.

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Author:	DocG [ Thu May 03, 2018 7:36 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: failed taxi medical - diabetes
Grandad, I think you misunderstand me. I religiously took and take tests when Im working, as the law says. However the meter went belly up, and all the data logged on it went west. I got a replacement soon after (this week) but as the data has gone from the last meter I am effectively stuffed - I cant provide them with the 3 months they need.

Author:	grandad [ Thu May 03, 2018 8:05 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: failed taxi medical - diabetes
DocG wrote: Grandad, I think you misunderstand me. I religiously took and take tests when Im working, as the law says. However the meter went belly up, and all the data logged on it went west. I got a replacement soon after (this week) but as the data has gone from the last meter I am effectively stuffed - I cant provide them with the 3 months they need. Hindsight is a wonderful thing. I keep a seperate graph of my readings just for such problems.

Author:	heathcote [ Thu May 03, 2018 11:41 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: failed taxi medical - diabetes
DocG wrote: Grandad, I think you misunderstand me. I religiously took and take tests when Im working, as the law says. However the meter went belly up, and all the data logged on it went west. I got a replacement soon after (this week) but as the data has gone from the last meter I am effectively stuffed - I cant provide them with the 3 months they need. Thought doctors could do a blood a blood test which would give the average sugar levels for a 12month period.

Author:	StuartW [ Fri May 04, 2018 12:29 am ]
Post subject:	Re: failed taxi medical - diabetes
wannabeeahack wrote: Your diabetic team/clinic should have your long term Hbac thingy results on file for years, ask them the day to day tests are pointless and i got told not to bother Problem is, from a driving perspective the HbA1c figures are pretty useless, because they only provide an average blood sugar level over several months. What matters when driving is the actual blood sugar levels at the time - the average for the last several months is irrelevant, but if the blood sugar level goes too low while you are driving then you could pass out. The HbA1c figures can't tell you how low your levels get, which can only be ascertained with a spot test there and then. The reason you're told not to bother with day to day testing is probably because you're not insulin dependent, so there's no chance of you passing out because your blood sugar readings are too low. The problem with insulin is that if you don't get it right then it can lower your blood sugar levels sufficiently for the user to pass out.

Author:	StuartW [ Fri May 04, 2018 3:13 am ]
Post subject:	Re: failed taxi medical - diabetes
DocG wrote: I’m a type 2 diabetic on insulin, never had any problems with it. I’ve just seen my doctor for my taxi medical. He won’t sign me off because I can’t provide three months blood readings. In my case that’s impossible because the meter I was using failed, and I have only recently been able to store them again on another machine. I don’t have a clue what do, can I seek a concession from the council? can I get benefits because I can’t work as a Hack? Any help/advice anyone can give would be greatly appreciated Presumably your council have adopted the Group 2 medical standards for drivers. And presumably they haven't suspended or revoked your badge yet. Just explain the circumstances to them and propose a course of action to demonstrate that you're not a danger - for example, provide them with regular readings until they're satisfied with your record. Suspect the DVLA has some kind of procedure if the driver's records are lost, but whether that would help you or not I don't know. However, you're not dealing with the DVLA, it's your council, and suspect they don't have procedures in place to cover such circumstances, so if they're reasonable about it then that could work in your favour. (The DVLA will be dealing with lots of diabetic drivers, so are likely to have well developed rules and procedures to cover circumstances such as your own, but your council won't be dealing with many diabetics, so maybe not so much in the way of set procedures and precedents, thus that could work in your favour, but as usual it may depend on how reasonable you/they are and how you approach the thing.) if they do suspend or revoke your badge then best course of action is to seek help from union or association, or a lawyer.

Author:	StuartW [ Fri May 04, 2018 3:40 am ]
Post subject:	Re: failed taxi medical - diabetes
grandad wrote: DocG wrote: Grandad, I think you misunderstand me. I religiously took and take tests when Im working, as the law says. However the meter went belly up, and all the data logged on it went west. I got a replacement soon after (this week) but as the data has gone from the last meter I am effectively stuffed - I cant provide them with the 3 months they need. Hindsight is a wonderful thing. I keep a seperate graph of my readings just for such problems. Certainly a good idea to keep some sort of back up record (written data or on a spreadsheet, for example), but suspect reason Group 2 criteria requires "blood glucose self-monitoring records for the previous 3 months stored on the memory of a blood glucose meter" is because it's then more difficult to falsify the readings.

Author:	wannabeeahack [ Fri May 04, 2018 11:24 am ]
Post subject:	Re: failed taxi medical - diabetes
StuartW wrote: grandad wrote: DocG wrote: Grandad, I think you misunderstand me. I religiously took and take tests when Im working, as the law says. However the meter went belly up, and all the data logged on it went west. I got a replacement soon after (this week) but as the data has gone from the last meter I am effectively stuffed - I cant provide them with the 3 months they need. Hindsight is a wonderful thing. I keep a seperate graph of my readings just for such problems. Certainly a good idea to keep some sort of back up record (written data or on a spreadsheet, for example), but suspect reason Group 2 criteria requires "blood glucose self-monitoring records for the previous 3 months stored on the memory of a blood glucose meter" is because it's then more difficult to falsify the readings. get a reading from the wife...lol

Author:	StuartW [ Fri May 04, 2018 5:27 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: failed taxi medical - diabetes
heathcote wrote: Thought doctors could do a blood a blood test which would give the average sugar levels for a 12month period. Not sure about 12 months, but the HbA1c test provides an average figure for the past 3 months/12 weeks or thereabouts. (Many diabetics will have the test on an annual basis, but the test only covers your levels for the past 3 months/12 weeks.) Problem is that the average can disguise the peaks and troughs, and it's the troughs that diabetics need to worry about when driving - too low and you can pass out. So if the average over the past few months is 8, you could be peaking at 12 and troughing at 6, which is fine. But you could be peaking at 13 and troughing at 3, and 3 means you're in danger of passing out. But the HbA1c test can only tell you the average, and not the highs and lows. And even if the HbA1c numbers could tell you the lows and highs as well as the average, they're not much use as far as driving is concerned - you need to know your level there and then to work out whether it's safe to drive, not what your lows were several weeks ago. The highs are important as well for your long term health - in fact a lot more important than the lows - but unless they're sky high for a long period then there's little chance of you passing out at the wheel - it's the lows that are the problem in that regard. Unless you're on insulin (and certain tablets) then you're unlikely to get low enough to pass out, so day to day testing isn't really necessary, although it can be useful to work out what the highs are, which will be disguised by the average HbA1c figure - thus some diabetics test regularly so they can work out which foods (for example) cause them to get dangerously high 'spikes', which won't kill you instantly, but will increase the chance of long term damage. But regular testing every few hours is expensive and obviously a pain for those doing it, so for many the HbA1c test is a simpler alternative, especially if your levels are fairly stable in the long run. But if you're driving and on insulin, or want to know precisely your blood sugar levels to fine tune your food intake etc, then regular day to day testing is necessary. (By the way, the figures I'm using above are the old units - they've changed the figures in the last few years, so the numbers are completely different to those above. Also, if reading the official literature from DVLA or whatever, 'blood sugar' and 'blood glucose' just means the same thing.)

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