A member of staff at a psychiatric clinic has died in hospital after being stabbed by a patient.

The 25-year-old was attacked at De Kijvelanden in Poortugaal, near Rotterdam, on Friday. The institution is a long-term treatment centre for convicted criminals under the Dutch system of tbs, or compulsory assessment and treatment ordered by the courts.

The attacker, a 44-year-old man, had been receiving treatment for at least 15 years. He was arrested after locking himself in a room directly after the incident.

A spokesman for the justice ministry said he had been given a tbs order because he had committed “offences of a violent nature”, but added there had been no indications he would carry out such an attack.

De Telegraaf said it had spoken to staff in the institution anonymously who said patients could easily obtain sharp knives from the kitchen.

Under Dutch law criminals are commonly ordered to undergo psychiatric treatment alongside their sentence. If the treatment is not complete within six years they are transferred to long-term institutions such as De Kijvelanden where there is less emphasis on rehabilitation.