The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) has invited Brain Tumour Research to comment on a proposed new brain tumour classification for DVLA purposes.
Until the contents have been finalised, we are unable to make the proposed content public but are pleased to be a part of the consultative process.
The Chair of the Brain Tumour Research Scientific and Medical Advisory Board (SMAB) Emeritus Professor of Neurosurgery, Garth Cruickshank (pictured) started on this revision in 2017 with the aim to update around new molecular classifications and to give a much more realistic risk stratification for the range of brain tumours.
He said: “My plan was always to get people back to driving where we could, but it is always a compromise between individual risk, population risk and DVLA policy enshrined in law.”
At the November 2020 meeting of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Brain Tumours (APPGBT), Dr Nicola Rosenfelder, Consultant Clinical Oncologist, Neuro-oncology Unit at The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation outlined the SAFER Study (Seizure Activity beFore and aftEr Radiotherapy). This is the first prospective study to determine the frequency and risk of seizures post-stereotactic surgery (SRS) and to design a risk-stratification system to allow identification of patients at low and high risk. This will enable us to better understand the risk of seizures in patients and thereby predict long-term seizure-free status which in turn will help inform future driving guidelines and, ultimately, allow those at lower risk of post-SRS seizures to return to driving sooner if appropriate.
The APPGBT remains keen to push the revision of the DVLA Brain Tumour Driving regulations. They will make a considerable difference for brain tumour patients given medical permission to drive again to have their driving licence returned as soon as possible.
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