A PATIENT has allegedly slashed a nurse a number of times with two knives during an incident at Blacktown Hospital in Sydney.

The man, who was under the care of the nurse, allegedly began behaving erratically about 10pm on Monday night, walking into patients’ rooms and taking photos with his mobile phone.

He is then said to have armed himself with two knives from the staffroom.

When the nurse, who was unaware he was armed, attempted to persuade him to return to his room, he allegedly attacked her with the knives, slashing her wrist and her clothing.

The victim, a 35-year-old woman, managed to escape the staffroom with the help of an elderly male patient, who closed the staffroom door and kept the man confined to the room until the arrival of security and police.

Officers disarmed the 47-year-old man and arrested him. He has since been transferred to Westmead Hospital and charged with wounding a person with intent to cause grievous bodily harm. The man is due to face court on Wednesday.

Security of staff at the hospital has been a contentious issue for years, with nurses walking off the job in protest in 2011 after a vicious attack on a female staff member.

Edith Castro-Rivera was stabbed by a hospital patient armed with a butter knife. He stabbed her 21 times and broke her rib.