Nurses' union MUMN has directed its members not to accept patient admissions to wards housed at the former staff canteen and the medical library at Mater Dei Hospital as of Thursday.

It said it was calling the bluff of Health Minister Chris Fearne who, it said, last month blamed union directives for a shortage of beds at the hospital. 

Fearne had complained that industrial action by the MUMN had stopped the transfer of elderly patients from the hospital to the St Vincent de Paul care home, resulting in there not being enough beds at Mater Dei for those who truly needed them.

The union ban on the transfer of patients was stopped by court order last week.

In its statement on Monday, the MUMN said all transfers from Mater Dei to St Vincent de Paul should take place by Wednesday.

That would free up beds at Mater Dei, it said, and it therefore expected the ministry to close down the temporary wards at the medical library and the staff canteen, since both areas were not appropriate to be used as wards.