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Post‐procedural considerations

Education of the patient and relevant others

Opioids and driving

In the UK, patients who are prescribed opioids are permitted to drive. However, the Faculty of Pain Medicine ([59]) has suggested that, under certain circumstances, patients who are taking opioids should not drive. These circumstances include:
  • the condition for which they are being treated has physical consequences that might impair their driving ability
  • they feel unfit to drive
  • they have just started opioid treatment
  • the dose of opioid has recently been adjusted upwards or downwards (withdrawal from opioids can also have an impact on driving)
  • they have consumed alcohol or drugs, which can produce an additive effect.
The Driving and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) is the only body that can legally advise a patient about their right to hold a driving licence. Patients starting opioids should be advised to inform the DVLA that they are now taking opioids and prescribers should document that this advice has been given. In March 2015 (section 5A of the Road Traffic Act [159] as amended in 2013) the law on drugs and driving changed; if a person's driving is impaired for any reason, including taking medicines, it is illegal to drive (Gov.uk [70]).
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