{"id":205745,"date":"2025-10-17T04:32:12","date_gmt":"2025-10-17T04:32:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/205745\/"},"modified":"2025-10-17T04:32:12","modified_gmt":"2025-10-17T04:32:12","slug":"woman-calls-for-improved-training-to-avoid-failed-diagnoses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/205745\/","title":{"rendered":"Woman calls for improved training to avoid failed diagnoses"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"StewartsStewarts Law Firm<\/p>\n

Toni-Claire Miller has Cauda Equina Syndrome, a rare condition where all the nerves in the lower back become severely compressed<\/p>\n

A woman living with a rare spinal condition is calling for improved training for healthcare professionals to avoid failed diagnoses.<\/p>\n

Toni-Claire Miller has Cauda Equina Syndrome (CES), a condition where all the nerves in the lower back become severely compressed.<\/p>\n

The 39-year-old, from Sittingbourne, Kent, said she has permanent paralysis of her bladder and bowel and mobility issues after not being physically examined at three appointments with different GPs.<\/p>\n

NHS England has been approached for comment.<\/p>\n

Ms Miller said she began experiencing severe back and leg pain, numbness and difficulties with bladder and bowel function back in July 2018.<\/p>\n

She was told in her second GP appointment she would be referred for an MRI, which was mistakenly delayed due to a scheduling error, she said.<\/p>\n

Ms Miller said her condition deteriorated and her son, who was six at the time, found her in the bathroom unable to move.<\/p>\n

He contacted his grandmother, and Ms Miller was rushed to A&E where an MRI scan revealed a ruptured disc compressing her spinal nerves.<\/p>\n

Ms Miller underwent surgery but said delay in her treatment led to her developing CES.<\/p>\n

‘Urgency’<\/p>\n

According to the NHS, CES symptoms include sciatica on both sides, severe weakness or numbness in both legs and difficulty in bladder and bowel control.<\/p>\n

Ms Miller said she believed that with better-trained staff and urgent access to MRI scans, her disability “could have been prevented”.<\/p>\n

She said: “My aim isn’t to blame anyone, but to make sure everyone \u2013 medical professionals and members of the public \u2013 understand the urgency of these symptoms.”<\/p>\n

Solicitor Nadia Krueger-Young, from law firm Stewarts, said that there needed to be “greater education and awareness around the condition”.<\/p>\n

She said: “There is a drive for spinal injury education in the NHS and growing recognition that it hasn’t always been sufficient.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Stewarts Law Firm Toni-Claire Miller has Cauda Equina Syndrome, a rare condition where all the nerves in the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":205746,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[102,2960,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-205745","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-healthcare","8":"tag-health","9":"tag-healthcare","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom","12":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/205745","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=205745"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/205745\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/205746"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=205745"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=205745"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=205745"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}