North East · driver medicals

Taxi driver medical in Northumberland

Which doctor Northumberland 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 Northumberland’s answer and nobody else’s.

Who can carry it out

Your own GP, or a doctor with your records

Your own practice is the straightforward route, but another doctor can do it if they have had full access to your medical history. Private clinics that request your records can qualify. One that examines you without them cannot.

What Northumberland requires

“Medical certificates will also be required on renewal at 45 years of age and every five years, e.g. at the age of 45, 50, 55, 60 and 65 years. From 65 years of age a medical is required at every annual renewal thereafter”
How often: 45, 50, 55, 60, 65 then annually from 65 at every renewal
Form: council's own (a 'Medical Certificate'; a separate 'medical declaration form' is used in the years when no full medical is due)
Possible exemption: PCV/HGV accepted - holders of a valid PCV or HGV entitlement on their DVLA or EU driving licence 'will not normally' need a further full medical; supply a copy of the last DVLA medical, plus extra evidence if that medical was not done by a GP with access to full records

View official source ↗ ⚑ Report a change

Taken from Hackney Carriage / Private Hire Driver Licence Renewal information sheet, dated 3 February 2025 - 'Medical Certificates' section on page 2. 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 Northumberland compares

Of the 315 UK licensing areas checked so far, Northumberland is one of 61 that will take another doctor provided they have had your full records.

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
Durham	Any registered doctor with your records
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
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 Northumberland

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

Every line above is taken from Northumberland’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