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Neurological letter from
Letter from aviation neurology
  1. Sally Evans
  1. Civil Aviation Authority, Aviation House, Gatwick, UK
  1. Correspondence to Dr Sally Evans, Civil Aviation Authority, Aviation House, Gatwick, UK; sally.evans{at}caa.co.uk

https://doi.org/10.1136/practneurol-2019-002312

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    What is aviation and space medicine?

    Aviation and space medicine is the UK’s newest medical specialty, recognised by the General Medical Council in 2016.1 However, aviation medicine has existed for 100 years, since the Wright brothers first demonstrated that it was possible for humans to fly and, importantly, to control aircraft (figure 1). Space medicine is its more recent cousin, and now forms part of our mainstream work, as space tourism looks set to become a reality in the next couple of years.2

    Figure 1

    The Wright flyer, 1903.

    The role of the UK Civil Aviation Authority

    The UK Civil Aviation Authority, based at Gatwick Airport, London, is the overall regulator of UK civil aviation. Our medical department comprises only 3% of our staff, and includes a team of ten doctors. Several specialist consultant advisors help with medical reports, and some of these hold clinics in our building at Gatwick. The Civil Aviation Authority (figure 2) exists to protect consumers; for example, through the Air Travel Organisers’ Licensing certificate (figure 3), which ensures that tourists can return home if their travel company ceases trading while on a package holiday.

    Figure 2

    Civil Aviation Authority logo.

    Figure 3

    Air Travel Organisers’ Licensing logo.

    Regulation of UK civil aviation

    Unusually for a regulator, we are funded by the industry we serve, rather than by the government through taxation. Thus, the practice of aviation medicine, along with our other activities, has to be cost-conscious and efficient, as our stakeholders expect us to justify how we spend our money. We are entirely independent of the UK National Health Service (NHS), although we do rely heavily on reports supplied to us from both NHS and private practitioners via our aviation licence holders, which permit us to undertake meaningful medical assessments of aircrew.

    Our ‘patients’

    The core of our work is assessing whether pilots are fit to …

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    Footnotes

    • Funding The author has not declared a specific grant for this research from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.

    • Competing interests None declared.

    • Patient consent for publication Not required.

    • Provenance and peer review Commissioned; externally peer reviewed by Colin Mumford, Edinburgh, UK and Damian Jenkins, Oxford, UK.

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