Driving after a RP

User

Posted 27 Nov 2019 at 12:20

Any thoughts on when to start driving. My husband is 5 weeks post surgery. I understand that you need to be able to do an emergency stop.

My husband tried a short drive today and all was well.

Edited by member 29 Nov 2019 at 12:51 | Reason: Not specified

User

Posted 27 Nov 2019 at 13:00

I drove on the day of my discharge from hospital on day 3 - Her Loveliness was struggling to park the car!

Our Matron here (Lyn) will point out that you are probably not insured if you are incapacitated, and as you said, unable to perform an emergency stop. But as my prostatectomy was virtually pain-free, I was able to, and I probably started driving normally around day six or seven.

It seems I was very lucky with my recuperation compared to others here, and I felt right as rain on day 10, the day of the catheter removal.

If your husband feels well enough to drive, then go for it.

Best of luck with his recovery.

Cheers, John.

User

Posted 27 Nov 2019 at 13:05

Thank you John. He will.probably wait till after 6 weeks. It is more a confidence thing for him. We have spoken to the insurer.

Edited by member 28 Nov 2019 at 08:04 | Reason: Not specified

User

Posted 27 Nov 2019 at 21:13

I started driving 4 weeks post op.

User

Posted 27 Nov 2019 at 21:28

Don’t set Lyn off on the driving thing lol. Let’s face it there are people out on the road driving completely legally who can barely walk , see or hear !! And then all the drink drivers which have been replaced by drug drivers as its hard to be caught out. Let’s face it insurers have to play a daily game to make their money and assess risk on a permanent basis. A kind of legalized fraud my dad has always said , as if they can get out of any claim whatsoever they bl**dy well will do. A bit like vultures.
I started driving after 4 weeks and took my own risks like they do !

User

Posted 27 Nov 2019 at 22:06

It isn't about whether someone is safe or not. You weren't taking your own risk Chris, you were playing Russian roulette with my life and financial wellbeing. If Bollinge had knocked me over on his way home and I lost a leg, his insurers would have refused to pay out and I would have received no compensation. How would I live? Who would pay my bills if I couldn't work?

Buckslady, there are two imperatives. If your OH's insurer says that they will not cover someone until 4 or 6 weeks or whatever after surgery, then he shouldn't drive until that point. If your hospital info leaflet stated a time period in which he mustn't drive, then he isn't insured until that point … some hospitals state it in the booking letter or a leaflet issued on the ward before patients go home. Sometimes it is simply on their website but any of these would be enough to invalidate the insurance. The DVLA says he can drive as soon as he can do an emergency stop, depending on the advice of the medical practitioner.

In John's case, the insurer would not cover him until they had it in writing from the surgeon that he was fit to drive, which the surgeon refused to provide. In the end, the GP wrote something but only after 12 weeks. So be it - a responsible member of society would not go out on the roads knowing that they are uninsured.

"Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards." Soren Kierkegaard

User

Posted 27 Nov 2019 at 23:10

All it takes is a quick phone call to your insurance company.

Thanks Chris

User

Posted 27 Nov 2019 at 23:35

"It isn't about whether someone is safe or not. You weren't taking your own risk Chris, you were playing Russian roulette with my life and financial wellbeing. If Bollinge had knocked me over on his way home and I lost a leg, his insurers would have refused to pay out and I would have received no compensation. How would I live? Who would pay my bills if I couldn't work?"

I am not sure this is correct. Even if a thief takes the car of somebody who has a policy with them and knocks somebody down, it is my understanding that the Insurers have to pay up, in effect extending third party cover to the thief. Also, I believe third party protection would be have to be given to 3 parties knocked down by a driver they insure influence of drugs or drink or arguably otherwise not really up to driving, being tired for example. If insurers were not obliged to meet the 3rd party claims in such circumstances there would be a lot of seriously injured 3rd parties without compensation.

Edited by member 28 Nov 2019 at 00:06 | Reason: Not specified

Barry

User

Posted 28 Nov 2019 at 00:12

Having your car stolen doesn’t violate the conditions of insurance and so the company will pay out to a victim. But violating the policy is different; if you drive without insurance (or against the Ts & Cs) and injure someone, the only recourse the victim has is through the MIB or by trying to sue the individual personally ... only worthwhile if they happen to have some personal wealth.

It seems to me that breaching the conditions of insurance cover is treated like a game by so many people, with no thought or understanding of the implications. My mum was hit by an uninsured driver and got nothing, even from the MIB. The only consolation was that the driver was of course convicted for driving without insurance. My brother died abroad; his insurer was able to wriggle out on a technicality and it cost us many, many £0000s to get his body released and flown home. It isn’t worth the risk.

"Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards." Soren Kierkegaard

User

Posted 28 Nov 2019 at 01:17

Originally Posted by: Online Community Member

My brother died abroad; his insurer was able to wriggle out on a technicality and it cost us many, many £0000s to get his body released and flown home.

My mate died on holiday at his home in Mallorca. I think he paid about sixty quid on easyJet to get there, but as you say, it cost £0000s to get him home - and that’s without luggage or carry-on bags!

I don’t think he had insurance other than an EHIC card.

Cheers, John.

Edited by member 28 Nov 2019 at 01:19 | Reason: Not specified

User

Posted 28 Nov 2019 at 03:19

Lyn,

Very sorry to learn about the loss of your brother and that your mother was hit by an uninsured driver. The law should down harder on uninsured drivers and those clearly not up to driving although the latter can be subjective. (Can it always be easily determined how near you are to being too tired and for example how much longer you require to recover from an operation than somebody else before being able to drive?) Hopefully, after paying for his expensive Prostatectomy and World Tours, John has enough cash left to insure his car so if he does not meet his Insurers T&C and has to bear his own cost of damage and personal injury, at least any third party will receive compensation if he is at fault in an accident..

Barry

User

Posted 28 Nov 2019 at 18:04

Back to the original question: I asked this question to my GP when I happened to go for something else a few weeks after surgery. She asked me a few questions and said she thought it would be all right.

I have to say I didn't tell the insurance company, I just worked on the basis that if I had an accident and there was any question (as pointed out they will always look for ways to wriggle out of a payout) I could justify the decision to re-start driving.

But I can't remember now how many weeks it would have been. Not less than 4 anyway.

User

Posted 28 Nov 2019 at 18:46

I looked at a few of the hospital info leaflets last night. For robotic RP,

Guys & St Thomas's state 2-4 weeks - https://www.guysandstthomas.nhs.uk/resources/patient-information/urology/prostate/going-home-after-radical-prostatectomy.pdf

UCLH - 2 weeks with the cop out that you should check with your insurer that they are happy to cover you https://www.uclh.nhs.uk/PandV/PIL/Patient%20information%20leaflets/Robotic%20prostatectomy%20-%20discharge%20information.pdf

Birmingham Prostate clinic - 4-6 weeks & check with insurer https://www.birminghamprostateclinic.co.uk/2015/02/23/what-i-should-expect-after-a-prostatectomy-common-issues/

Queen Elizabeth's - 2-3 weeks & check with insurer https://www.uhb.nhs.uk/Downloads/pdf/PiLaparoscopicRadicalProstatectomy.pdf

eater Midlands network - 4 weeks & check with insurer http://www.uhnm.nhs.uk/OurServices/Documents/Urology/Patient%20info%20for%20Radical%20Prostatectomy%20for%20Prostate%20Cancer%20Trust%20final%20Format%20updated%200909092.pdf

Royal Berkshire - 2 weeks and check with your insurer https://www.royalberkshire.nhs.uk/patient-information-leaflets/Urology%20Prostatectomy%20robotic%20assisted%20laparoscopic%20htm

St James's hand out the PCUK leaflet rather than their own; it says 'as soon as you feel able to and your insurer says you are covered'

I suspect that if there was a claim, many insurers would use the 'you didn't check with us even though the hospital said you needed to' It would be interesting to know whether the hospitals are thorough about handing these leaflets to patients at diagnosis or on release from hospital, or whether they just leave them sitting on websites for patients to find themselves?

Edited by moderator 25 Oct 2023 at 09:53 | Reason: to activate the hyperlinks

"Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards." Soren Kierkegaard

User

Posted 29 Nov 2019 at 09:32

Thank you Lyn.

User

Posted 29 Nov 2019 at 10:08

Originally Posted by: Online Community Member

Lyn,

Hopefully, after paying for his expensive Prostatectomy and World Tours, John has enough cash left to insure his car so if he does not meet his Insurers T&C and has to bear his own cost of damage and personal injury, at least any third party will receive compensation if he is at fault in an accident..

My ‘expensive Prostatectomy’ was expensive for the NHS. ‘World Tours’? I’ve only been to 109 countries (number 110 - Israel - is in two weeks), so at least 90 more to go. I used to work on cruise ships so most visits were free.

Driving for 50 years. Ten years (maximum) no-claims bonus. Clean driving licence. Always insured.

Oh, and did I mention I used to be a test driver for Jaguar? I know when I’m capable of driving...

Cheers, John.

Edited by member 29 Nov 2019 at 14:58 | Reason: Not specified

User

Posted 29 Nov 2019 at 19:18

I think he was referring to my John, not you?

"Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards." Soren Kierkegaard

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