The pioneering Scottish Driving Assessment Service (SDAS), based in NHS Lothian, has registered its 30,000th patient as it celebrates its 40th anniversary.
Based in the SMART centre at Astley Ainsley Hospital, the innovative service was one of the first of its kind to open in the UK and serves the whole of Scotland. SDAS aims to help people who wish to start (or resume) driving after an illness or accident and provides assessments/advice on an individual’s fitness to drive in relation to any medical issues.
The service was established thanks to the drive of Dr John Hunter, previous Consultant in Rehabilitation Medicine at the Astley Ainslie Hospital. He explained that, “1981 was the International Year of Disabled People and I decided (with the blessing of Lothian Health Board) to try to raise money to provide a driving assessment service and developed a research project to prove its validity.
“By 1983 I had raised sufficient money including funding in kind from Ferranti (then a major aerospace firm) to allow us to employ an engineer (David Montgomery) to help with the many technical problems we foresaw.
“The first patient in August 1983 was delighted to help us with our project and we in turn were able to help him get back to driving.
“By the end of the first two years, we had sufficient evidence to allow us to present a paper at an International Conference and to apply successfully for ongoing funding as a ‘New Development in Healthcare’.”
Patients are referred to the team by their GP or by a Hospital Consultant if there is a concern about their medical fitness to drive, or the patient themselves is seeking advice on vehicle modifications to assist them with driving.
The medical team in the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) also request specialist driving assessments as part of their medical enquiries into an individual’s Driving Licence application.
Service user, Richard Mullen (70) had his right leg amputated in March of this year following complications from Type 2 Diabetes.
Richard said: “The staff in the Driving Assessment service were very helpful and patient throughout the reaction and sight tests, and assessment in an adapted vehicle. It was thankfully much less nerve wracking than learning to drive when I was 17.
“My new automatic vehicle now has a ring on the inside of the wheel with an accelerator and brake arm.
“It really is great fun to be behind the wheel again and I’m very much looking forward to being back on the road again.”
The SDAS team see around 1,000 patients every year with a view to helping them regain or maintain some form of normality and independence, or to realise that driving is no longer safe in some instances.
Dr Lynne Hutton, current Consultant in Charge of SDAS, adds, “Current research provides clear evidence that stopping driving is associated with increased rates of depression and mortality, as well as the more obvious reduction in social functioning which reduces quality of life. The value of being able to offer this service cannot be underestimated in relation to the safety and health of people throughout Scotland.
“The ability to offer this as a national service, with the ongoing opportunity to contribute to national and European assessment standards makes working in this service incredibly interesting and worthwhile.”
For more information on the service check Driving Assessment – SMART Centre (scot.nhs.uk)
