SA man arrested over hospital death

A patient in a mental health ward at an Adelaide hospital has been arrested on suspicion of murder following the death of another patient.

At about 1am on Tuesday, a nurse doing her rounds at the Morier Ward at the Noarlunga Hospital found a man collapsed and staff were unable to revive him.

Police say another patient of the acute psychiatric ward was arrested by detectives on suspicion of murder.

The 23-year-old man, from Woodcroft, is being interviewed and is expected to be charged with the crime.

Southern Adelaide Local Health Network chief executive Belinda Moyes said the incident occurred in a contained unit and would not affect the hospital's operations.

"This is obviously a very unfortunate incident and our heart goes out to the victim's family," she said in a statement. "The incident has not impacted the wider hospital site and the public are encouraged to attend Noarlunga Hospital as normal."

Staff and patients have been briefed about the situation and offered counselling.

The 20-bed Morier Ward caters for people aged 18 to 65 who are living in the outer southern suburbs of Adelaide.