Parents of Manon Jones speak out after inquest: 'She was 100% let down'
ITV Wales Reporter Kate Lewis hears from the parents of Manon Jones in a heartfelt interview
The parents of Cardiff schoolgirl Manon Jones, who took her own life under the care of Cwm Taf Morgannwg health board, feel their daughter was "100%" let down by those responsible for her safeguarding.
Nikki and Jeff Jones are calling on the Welsh Government to mandate electronic NHS records, believing that real-time access to patients' clinical notes could have prevented their daughter's death.
On the March 7 2018, Manon Jones died in Ty Llidiard, a Bridgend-based child and adolescent mental health in-patient unit run by Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board.
An inquest last week revealed "serious failings" in Manon's care, specifically in downgrading her care from one-to-one supervision to 15-minute observations.Manon's mother, Nikki Jones, told ITV Wales News: "Manon wasn't safeguarded and she should have been. When you see it laid out in front of you, it's so simple.""It's so easy to see that without that bit of information, and that bit of information, and a whole set of assumptions, it's easy to see why it happened, and that's the heartbreaking thing," she said.
A statement issued on behalf of Manon’s parents, Nikki and Jeff Jones, and her sister, calls on the Welsh Government to "implement a national system that will enable Health Boards to keep up to date records electronically that can be readily accessed and shared."It reads: "We fully support the coroner’s report to prevent future unnecessary deaths to Cwm Taf Health Board and hope it will stop other families having to go through the agonising pain of losing their child."
Manon's father, Jeff Jones, told ITV Wales News: "If there's one thing that I really want this inquest to do – like we said, it will never do what we want it to do which is give us our daughter back – but it's to give us the energy again to say, come on, let's make a difference."
In light of Manon's case, a Welsh Government spokesperson said: “Our thoughts are with the family and friends following their tragic loss. The health board has accepted the findings from the Coroner’s report and is committed to ensuring the highest standard of care for all young people who need the support of mental health services.“We have agreed a wider improvement programme for our CAMHS in-patient units in Wales which is supported by £1.8m additional funding.“We are committed to increasing access to information through digital services, both between health and care settings and with the patient. We will continue to work with health boards to ensure the migration to digital services can be achieved.”
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