The HSE has unreservedly apologised for failures in the management and care of a 31-year-old Drogheda woman at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda.

The High Court was told yesterday that the HSE has reached a settlement of €62,500 in the case of Sharon McEneaney, who waited nine months for a cancer diagnosis and died in 2009.

In the apology read out in court, the HSE admitted there were many deficits in Ms McEneaney's care which led to her delayed cancer diagnosis and treatment.

It apologised to her family for their loss and apologised for the standard of care Ms McEneaney received.

A HSE review of her case found that Lourdes Hospital 'completely failed her' and raised questions about the standards of care and the safety culture there.

In 2012, the Medical Council found her consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist, Dr Etop Akpan guilty of poor professional performance in relation to the case.

Ms McEneaney first attended the emergency department of Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda in October 2007, complaining of abdominal pain.

A HSE report into the case found that the Drogheda hospital 'completely failed her' and raised questions about the standards of care and the safety culture at Our Lady of Lourdes.

In January 2012, a Medical Council fitness-to-practise inquiry found consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist Dr Etop Akpan guilty of poor professional performance on two counts in relation to the case.

The HSE report said Dr Akpan was careful, hardworking and reflective.

However, the report said while it was not clear that the patient's rare disease was curable at the time she presented with it, it was likely her surgery would have been less extensive with a better quality of life if the correct diagnosis had been made at an earlier stage.

Sharon McEneaney attended the Lourdes Emergency Department three times between October and November 2007 - she was initially suspected of having an ovarian cyst, but a diagnosis of cancer was finally made the following year.

She died at Beaumont Hospital in Dublin in 2009 from a cancerous abdominal tumour.

The HSE said it had made changes at the Drogheda Hospital to make it safer for patients.