Solicitors acting for Dublin's Mater hospital claim the hospital has been defamed in comments made by Janette Byrne, the founder of Patients Together, in her new book.
The book, If It Were Just Cancer, documents Ms Byrne's battle with cancer and her time as a patient at the Mater hospital from February 2001.
In in she refers to a lack of cleanliness in the hospital, particularly on St Vincent's ward.
William Fry Solicitors, on behalf of the hospital, claim in a letter to the publishers of the book that Ms Byrne's descriptions of conditions in St Vincent's ward are "exaggerated and at odds with those seen by both the staff who worked there and by the management of the Mater".
They also say that cleaning is taken seriously throughout the hospital.
They insist there are a number of factual inaccuracies in the book, such as a suggestion that hospital patients sometimes pass the time looking out the window into Mountjoy Prison yard across the road.
Ms Byrne's partner, Declan Moloney, said yesterday that Ms Byrne was very upset at the solicitors' letter. He said she had been making the same point for some time in the interests of improving conditions for all patients, and therefore the hospital could not have been taken by surprise by the comments in her book.
William Fry Solicitors said in its letter that the Mater deeply regretted having to instruct a law firm on this matter. However a number of statements and descriptions in the book "have caused great distress to the employees of the Mater, particularly those who work in St Vincent's ward".
It added: "We have advised our clients that the descriptions of the Mater, and of St Vincent's ward in particular, is defamatory of our clients." They demanded that Ms Byrne should not repeat the allegations again, and that the book should be reprinted by Veritas with a number of deletions.
"Our client's [ the Mater's] attitude to this matter will be determined by your response," the letter concluded.
In a statement yesterday after the issue was raised on RTÉ's Liveline, the Mater said that while it respected Ms Byrne's right to tell her story, the hospital "has a right to defend its reputation by seeking redress from the publishers of a book that includes specific inaccuracies and exaggerations levelled against it. The cost to the hospital for any legal advice will not be borne by taxpayers' funds."
Ms Byrne said last night she could not comment on the controversy at present.
Some 5,000 copies of her book were published and it is understood to have sold out.