Bin driver failed to tell doctor about fainting fit
I would have ruled him unable to drive, says medical expert
THE driver of a runaway bin lorry that killed six people would have been made ‘temporarily unfit for driving’ if he had told a doctor about an earlier fainting episode, a fatal accident inquiry heard.
Harry Clarke, 58, collapsed at the wheel of the Glasgow City Council refuse truck in the city centre on December 22 last year, causing it to veer out of control.
Dr Joanne Willox, an occupational medical adviser, said Mr Clarke failed to tell her about any faints he had suffered in the previous five years when she examined him in December 2011 over an application to renew his HGV licence.
She agreed there was a ‘flaw’ in the system whereby an applicant’s full medical records are only normally available if the medic filling out the forms is the applicant’s own GP.
Dr Willox told the inquiry at Glasgow Sheriff Court she saw Mr Clarke at the request of the council to complete the form, which was to be submitted to the DVLA.
On the form, the question ‘ Is there a history of blackouts or impaired consciousness in the last five years?’ was answered ‘No’.
The inquiry has previously heard that Mr Clarke fainted at the wheel of a stationary bus in April 2010.
A question as to whether he had a history of ‘sudden and disabling dizziness or vertigo’ was also answered ‘No’.
The inquiry has been told Mr Clarke had a history of fainting and dizziness dating back to the 1970s.
Dr Willox said her normal way of working was to ask the person if they had had any ‘blackouts or fits or faints or funny episodes’ in the past five years.
Solicitor General Lesley Thomson, QC, for the Crown, asked: ‘If you had been told by Mr Clarke at that stage, “I fainted in April 2010,” what would you have done?’
She replied: ‘I would have made him temporarily unfit for work as a driver, flagged it up to the DVLA, asked for his consent to write to his GP about what investigation had been done and to provide records of that. I would have told the city council he was not fit to drive and it would depend on the DVLA to decide about his licence.’
Erin McQuade, 18, and her grandparents Jack Sweeney, 68, and Lorraine Sweeney, 69, from Dumbarton, died from multiple injuries after being hit by the truck.
Stephenie Tait, 29, and Jacqueline Morton, 51, both from Glasgow, and Gillian Ewing, 52, from Edinburgh, were also killed as the lorry ran out of control along Queen Street before crashing into the side of the Millennium Hotel.
The inquiry heard that when completing the form with Mr Clarke, Dr Willox, who worked for Bupa on behalf of the council, did not have access to his GP medical records.
She agreed she could have requested the records if she considered it necessary, though this was not normal practice.
Mrs Thomson suggested that the fact Dr Willox did not have access to medical records meant she was not in a position to carry out a ‘gate-keeping role’ for the DVLA. Dr Willox agreed.
During cross- examination by Dorothy Bain, QC, representing the family of Miss Morton, Dr Willox said Mr Clarke’s job was in the ‘safety critical’ category.
Miss Bain asked: ‘If he had been answering the questions truthfully, he should have revealed what happened in 2010 in relation to a faint?’ Dr Willox replied: ‘Yes.’
Later, consultant cardiologist Professor Andrew Rankin told the inquiry there would have been ‘no clear pointer’ Mr Clarke was likely to suffer another fainting episode if he had examined him in 2010.
Professor Rankin examined Mr Clarke in February and told the court a monitoring device was fitted under Mr Clarke’s skin.
He said: ‘This has shown he has had no further episodes and no arrythmic disturbances of the heart have been picked up.’
Professor Rankin said the majority of people who suffer a blackout do not have another. He added it was likely Mr Clarke could have had his HGV licence returned by 2014 under DVLA guidelines, as previous incidents were so far in the past.
The inquiry, before Sheriff John Beckett, QC, continues.
‘I would flag it up to the DVLA’