DPD courier fined for hospital visit dies


cA courier driver with diabetes who was fined by his employers for taking time off for a hospital appointment has died.


The widow of Don Lane, from Dorset, says her late husband feared taking time off to get care for his condition because of £150 penalties imposed by delivery firm DPD if he did not manage to get his round covered.


Lane, who was 53, was fined for taking a day off to see a doctor and also missed appointments with specialists because of the pressure imposed by the company, it has been reported by the Guardian newspaper His widow, Ruth Lane, has criticised DPD for failing to honour its “duty of care”. 


She told the Guardian: “There was a constant threat of a fine. They had to deliver the parcels to tight slots and the pressure to get them done was huge. He was putting the company before his own health. He wasn’t able to do his parcels first and make the hospital appointments, so he would cancel on the day. 


“He collapsed in January 2017 and they knew that because they collected his van. It was after that Don cancelled three appointments. DPD had a duty of care to make sure he got to those appointments, but they failed in it.”


Under the terms of the contract, drivers are not entitled to sick leave and the company can charge them £150 if their rounds are not completed.


www.diabetes.co.uk/news/2018/feb/parcel-deliverer-with-diabetes-fined-for-day-off-for-doctor-visit-sadly-dies-93292945.html


www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-dorset-42946855