Nathan Jones
Road User Licensing,
Insurance & Safety
Department for Transport
Zone 3/29
Great Minster House
33 Horseferry Road
London SW1P 4DR
Tel: 020 7944 2909
Nathan.Jones@dft.gsi.gov.uk
Web site: www.dft.gov.uk
DATE: 24 OCTOBER 2013
Dear Sir/Madam,
Permitting the use of evacuated tube containers for the taking of blood specimens
from persons accused drink or drug driving
I am writing to make you aware of proposed changes to section 15 of the Road Traffic
Offenders Act 1988 (RTOA 1988) and section 34 of the Transport and Works Act 1992
(TWA 1992) to permit the use of evacuated tube containers for the taking of blood
specimens from drink or drug driving suspects. These amendments are proposed in
response to concerns aired by stakeholders over the current requirement to use syringes
to take blood specimens in this context.
As you may be aware, section 15 (5) RTOA 1988 states that:
“Where, at the time a specimen of blood or urine was provided by the accused, he asked
to be provided with such a specimen, evidence of the proportion of alcohol or any drug
found in the specimen is not admissible on behalf of the prosecution unless—
(a) the specimen in which the alcohol or drug was found is one of two parts into
which the specimen provided by the accused was divided at the time it was
provided, and
(b) the other part was supplied to the accused.”
Section 15 (5A) contains similar provision for specimens of blood taken from persons
incapable of consenting, under section 7A of the Road Traffic Act 1988. Sections 34 (3)
and 34 (3A) TWA 1992 contain the same wording to cover offences involving drink or
drugs on transport systems.
Sections 15 (5) and 15 (5A) RTOA 1988 are also referred to without modification in
sections 83 and 96 of the Railways and Transport Safety Act 2003, to cover offences
involving drink or drugs in shipping and aviation contexts.
In practice, this requires the medical practitioner or registered healthcare professional to
take the blood specimen using a syringe, and then divide the specimen between two
glass vials. This procedure is no longer common practice for other purposes where blood
is being taken, and nurses may require additional training in taking blood specimens
using a syringe.
The introduction of evacuated tube containers for the taking of blood specimens is
anticipated to provide the following benefits:
 Increased safety of the procedure for the medical practitioners and registered
healthcare professionals taking the specimens, due to reduced risk of needle-stick
injuries
 Increased ease and likelihood of extracting the required amount of blood
 Reduced training requirements for the medical practitioners and registered
healthcare professionals taking the samples
 Increased familiarity with the equipment for the medical practitioners and
registered healthcare professionals taking the samples
 Reduced equipment procurement costs due to the common use of this equipment
in the NHS, in contrast to the more bespoke equipment needed for syringe and
glass vial collection
However, the introduction of evacuated tube containers would contravene sections 15 (5)
and 15 (5A) RTOA 1988 and sections 34 (3) and 34 (3A) TWA 1992, because in practice
when using evacuated tube containers to take blood, two separate specimens would be
taken from the accused as part of one continuous process. The specimen supplied to the
accused would therefore not be one of two parts into which the original specimen was
divided, as it would be an independent specimen. Changes to section 15 RTOA 1988 and
section 34 TWA 1992 are required in order to permit the use of evacuated tube containers
for the taking of blood specimens.
The proposed changes to section 15 RTOA 1988 and section 34 TWA 1992 will continue
to permit the use of existing equipment alongside evacuated tube containers for the
taking of blood specimens.
At present, we are looking to make these changes when parliamentary time allows and in
the next appropriate legislative vehicle.
Due to the fact that this is a minor procedural change with a likely impact only on the
police and those providing healthcare services we are not intending to run a public
consultation on this issue. Accordingly we wanted to notify you, and other directly
affected stakeholders of the proposal before we finalise the preparatory work for these
changes to be made. We welcome any comments and suggestions you may have, and
any problems you envision with this proposed change.
Please could you provide any comments to me at the contact details above. It would be
helpful to hear from you by close of play on Thursday 7 November.
I am at your disposal if you should have any further questions.
Yours sincerely,
Nathan Jones