Joan Blaber, 85, was recovering in the Royal Sussex County Hospital, Brighton, when her family claim she accidentally drank floor cleaner from a jug at her bedside before taking her medication.
A post-mortem revealed she died six days later as a direct result of the incident last September.
Ms Blaber’s family are appealing for funds to pay for a barrister at a jury inquest in September and hope to raise £25,000.
Their crowdfunding page says: “Although the hospital’s lawyers have admitted full responsibility for causing Joan’s death, they have refused to pay for the family to be legally represented.”
It adds: “The hospital trust will be legally represented by a barrister, effectively paid from your taxes. We already find the inquest and legal process very daunting and upsetting and we need help from a barrister to be a voice for the family.”
An investigation by the Care Quality Commission found the hospital had inadequate safety measures, with cleaning fluids not correctly stored. Inspectors visited the hospital a month after Ms Blaber’s death and found unattended cleaning trolleys containing hazardous substances.
The family’s solicitor Jonathan Austen-Jones said: “It is hoped the inquest will lead to a thorough investigation into the circumstances of what happened.”
Geoffrey Bowden, director of pressure group Healthwatch Brighton and Hove, said: “If there are things that have gone wrong because of a systemic failure in the protocols, we want to know.”
