A MALE nurse is recovering after being stabbed by a patient with a knife in hospital.
The 31-year-old was stabbed in the arm with a pocket knife after a struggle at the Freeman Hospital in Newcastle .
Other patients watched on as the man attacked the nurse as he was being brought a meal.
The 27-year-old man was restrained by hospital staff, and after undergoing a psychiatric assessment he was taken to the St Nicholas Hospital, in Gosforth, where he was sectioned under the Mental Health Act.
Police were called to the hospital just after 11pm on Sunday night after receiving reports that a nurse had been injured with a knife.
The nurse was treated at the hospital's accident and emergency department and is now recovering at home.
His injuries are not thought to be serious.
A hospital spokesman said: "The attack was an unexpected action. The patient was restrained and the police were called. Following psychiatric assessment, the patient was transferred to St Nicholas Hospital, Gosforth.
"The nurse was treated for an upper arm wound in the accident and emergency department and is recovering at home."
The man was arrested by police before being sectioned and an investigation is now under way.
Detective Sergeant Mark Watson, of Northumbria Police, said: "We take this type of incident very seriously.
"The police work closely with the NHS to minimise the risk to hospital staff and patients."
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