North East · driver medicals

Taxi driver medical in Durham

Which doctor Durham will accept, how often you have to repeat it and which form they want. Councils disagree with each other on every one of those, so this is Durham’s answer and nobody else’s.

What Durham requires

• “The medical practitioner must confirm that: They have examined the applicant; The applicant is registered with the practice and/or they have full access to the applicant's full medical records; The medical examination was carried out to the DVLA's Group 2 standard; They consider the applicant meets Group 2 standard and to be fit to act as the driver of a hackney carriage or private hire vehicle”
• How long it lasts: 6 months during the initial application process; after that either a new medical form or a letter from the same GP confirming no change
• How often: from age 45 every 5 years, then annually from 65
• Form: council's own - 'a completed medical examination report provided by the Council', obtained from licensing@durham.gov.uk

Taken from Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Licensing Policy 2023 to 2027, Appendix, section d) Medical Fitness (pp.24-25). Rules change and councils rewrite their pages without notice, so confirm before you book and pay. If something here is wrong please say and I will check it against the council and fix it.

How Durham compares

Of the 315 UK licensing areas checked so far, Durham is one of 105 taking that line, which is the most common arrangement in the country.

Who may sign it elsewhere in North East

Neighbouring authorities do not follow each other on this, and a certificate accepted in one is regularly refused in the next. Check the area whose badge you actually hold.

Licensing area	Who can carry out the medical
Middlesbrough	Your own GP, or a doctor with your records
Newcastle	Your own GP, or a doctor with your records
Gateshead	Any registered doctor with your records
North Tyneside	Any registered doctor with your records
Northumberland	Your own GP, or a doctor with your records
Stockton-on-Tees	Your own GP only
Sunderland	Any registered doctor with your records
Redcar and Cleveland	Any registered doctor with your records
Hartlepool	Your own GP, or a doctor with your records
Darlington	Any registered doctor with your records
South Tyneside	Your own GP, or a doctor with your records

What it costs to be licensed in Durham

The medical is one bill among several. See what Durham charges for the driver, vehicle and operator licences, taken from the same published sources.

Every line above is taken from Durham’s own published guidance and read by hand against that source. Nothing here is from trade press, a forum or an estimate. This is not medical or legal advice.

← Medical rules for every UK licensing area