NHS claim, self-rep advice?

[Can2022getanyworse]

Firstly I want to be clear that I am a huge advocate of the NHS and have had nothing but excellent care from them myself.

HOWEVER, my mum died under their care last year very suddenly and unexpectedly. Her team launched an investigation into her care (during which time I was able to present my own concerns that were not heard at the time) and the report concluded that after a catestrophic series of events over a 36 hour period, her death should have been preventable. A complaint recently concluded supports the investigation results.

Obviously further action will not bring her back, and changes have been made so that such disastrous failures in 'care' both medically and procedurally should not happen again.

I have heard many times 'oh you should sue them for every penny' which firstly doesn't sit right with me but I also know that it doesn't work like that. However having done a fair bit of reading, it seems that there is an option of submitting a claim for (such as) funeral expenses and solicitor fees that became payable as a result of her death (due to their acknowledged fault).

I've self-repped before in family court so the prospect of doing so again and avoiding major costs is not terrifying, there seem to be pages of no win no fee sharks online.

Does anyone know of any support groups/forums/advice boards where I might be able to get some (official) legal advice/handhold? TIA

Maybe get an hours chat with a solicitor dealing in negligence claims to see where you stand. The UK don't 'penalise' with financial awards, so there is no such thing as punitive damages. Negligence claims depend on putting the claimant back into the position, financially, they were 'but for' the incident. Presumably you weren't dependent on your mother for financial upkeep? Have you needed psychological counselling around the death? That can be compensated for. Funeral costs I think would be payable, but I'm not sure. Of course if you win the case any out of pocket expenses or solicitors fees would be paid by the defendants. If you have clear evidence of negligence, admissions and so on, it may be worth asking a solicitor to put together a letter of claim which they could respond to and investigate the case and they may just pay any out of pocket expenses and your legal fees without resorting to court.

Not sure they couldn't deal with this in a small claims court. Maybe contact them to see.
I'm familiar with negligence cases but not you particular experience. The only think I do know is it's sometimes financially not worth while, but even an apology is a plus.