Secret footage captured the moment lorry drivers were given bogus medical tests in lay-bys and motorway service stations – consultations lasting minutes in the back of vans before being fraudulently signed off as fit to drive. Thousands of HGV drivers are thought to have received the fake checks, conducted by unqualified staff working for Doctors on Wheels, a company that promised "cheap medicals" by "fully licensed doctors" for "just under £60", undercutting competitors.
The scale of the fraud was laid bare in Swansea Crown Court, where company director Andrew Eburne was convicted of fraud and sentenced to four years. Judge Huw Rees told the 51-year-old he had "put profit before safety" and played "a leading role" in "business dealings served to compromise public safety". In the worst cases, trading standards investigators said one driver was given a "full pass" despite being "profoundly deaf", while another was "recorded as having perfect vision" despite having a glass eye.
“Thousands of HGV drivers got bogus medical tests in vans by unqualified staff using a fraudulent doctor's stamp.”
The investigation began after the DVLA suspected the Leicester-based firm was using a stamp with a doctor's signature printed on it to process dozens of tests a day. In 2019, three undercover investigators posing as wannabe lorry drivers booked online and turned up for medical tests scheduled at the same time at three different locations across the UK. They entered Doctors on Wheels vans in Swindon, Huddersfield and Leicester, where a member of staff conducted an eye test, blood pressure test and medical questionnaire. But when they examined their completed medical forms, each stated the person they had just met was the same doctor – confirming the DVLA's suspicions.
Covert recordings taken by trading standards officers revealed further deception. One patient, unable to name the letters on an eye test chart, was given the answer by staff. On another occasion, Doctors on Wheels allowed a patient to take parts of their medical forms home to fill in themselves. "People who were known to the DVLA as having health conditions were being signed off as perfectly fit," said Rhys Harries, who led the investigation for Swansea Trading Standards, the prosecutors in the case.
The implications are grave: all HGV drivers must complete a D4 medical before getting a licence for the first time, and drivers over 45 must have them redone periodically to prove they are still safe to operate the vehicles. These private tests must be conducted by a doctor registered with the General Medical Council – a requirement Doctors on Wheels bypassed with a fraudulent stamp and unqualified staff.