The Louth county coroner has indicated he may hold an inquest into the death last month of a woman in Our Lady of Lourdes hospital in Drogheda.
The family of the 62-year- old woman spoke to local radio station LMFM yesterday morning and questioned the care she received at the hospital. They expressed serious concerns that she may have died from thirst and organ failure and alleged that her artificial feeding machine may not have been working.
She died six days after she was admitted having suffered a fracture to her pelvis in an accident at her home last month.
In a statement, the HSE said it could not comment on individual cases but that in the case of an unexpected death, the cause of death would be determined by postmortem.
"If a family have a concern regarding the care a patient received at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, they should make contact with the hospital and their concerns can be addressed," it added.
The Louth coroner, barrister Ronan Maguire, said he would examine the postmortem report and until then he could not make a decision on whether he would hold an inquest. However he said there was provision to allow for one if he believed it was necessary to "allay public rumour or suspicion".