A scheduled pre-trial hearing for the man accused of being the Claremont serial killer has been delayed after he was injured in a prison shower and taken to hospital.

Key points: Mr Edwards was injured in a prison shower, with a pencil found nearby

Mr Edwards was injured in a prison shower, with a pencil found nearby He is accused of killing Sarah Spiers, Jane Rimmer and Ciara Glennon in the 1990s

He is accused of killing Sarah Spiers, Jane Rimmer and Ciara Glennon in the 1990s He was arrested 20 years after the three women disappeared, but denies all charges

Bradley Robert Edwards was due to be escorted from Hakea Prison to appear at a three-day directions hearing in the WA Supreme Court this morning.

But at the start of proceedings, Justice Stephen Hall said the 50-year-old had been taken to hospital with a "health issue" and the hearing needed to be adjourned.

Mr Edwards arrived at Fiona Stanley Hospital's emergency department in Perth's southern suburbs shortly after 10:30am, when a number of armed guards were seen waiting outside a St John Ambulance.

The guards accompanied paramedics as they took Mr Edwards out of the back of the ambulance on a stretcher.

Wearing handcuffs and partially seated upright in the stretcher, Mr Edwards appeared calm and had a bandage on his right ear as he was wheeled into the hospital.

Mr Edwards has since been discharged from hospital and the directions hearing has been adjourned until 10:00am on Tuesday.

A spokeswoman for the Department of Justice said Mr Edwards has been transported to another maximum security facility.

"Mr Edwards has been released from Fiona Stanley Hospital and transported to Casuarina Prison, where he is under a protection regime while an assessment is made to determine his future needs," the spokeswoman said.

Bradley Robert Edwards was being held at the maximum security Hakea Prison in Perth. ( Supplied: Central Crocs Football Club )

Pencil found in shower block

Corrective Services Commissioner Tony Hassall said Mr Edwards was found on his own in a shower block by a prison officer.

"There were 22 prisoners on the unit, so I'm assuming that they [police] will speak to the other 21 prisoners and the staff on duty," Commissioner Hassall said.

"There was a pencil found by the officer that found him this morning.

"He [Mr Edwards] had an injury to his right ear and there was a pencil found nearby in the shower block.

WA's Corrective Services Commissioner Tony Hassall says a pencil was found near Mr Edwards. ( ABC News: Charlotte Hamlyn )

"The unit was unlocked as normal at 7:30am, there was no indication there was any issues … he obviously went for a shower and that's when the officer found him about 15–20 minutes later."

Commissioner Hassall said it was too early to tell whether additional security measures would be put in place for Mr Edwards.

"There's a lot of controls around that type of offender anyway in the prison system, we'll have a look at what further controls we need to put around him when he comes back to the prison," he said.

Corrective Services Minister Fran Logan earlier told reporters Mr Edwards had been attacked in a prison shower and had suffered a "relatively minor" ear injury.

But he later clarified these comments, saying there was no indication how the injury occurred.

'We want him in good health': Attorney-General

Attorney-General John Quigley said he was concerned by the attack on Mr Edwards.

"We want to keep this accused in good health to face justice without delay," he said.

Mr Edwards was taken to hospital from Hakea Prison in the suburb of Canning Vale. ( ABC News: Louise Merrillees )

"I don't want him going to hospital and [lawyers] saying the trial is going to be delayed or any nonsense like that.

"We will do all we can to keep Bradley John Edwards in good health and fit to face his day in court.

"All of the victims' parents would be distraught if this trial was in any way delayed because of assaults within the prison system.

"This community has waited over 20 years for the commencement of the trial and I would be very concerned if anything happened to him in prison that caused any delay."

Edwards fighting three murder charges

Mr Edwards is accused of murdering Sarah Spiers, Jane Rimmer and Ciara Glennon, who all vanished from the Claremont entertainment strip in 1996 and 1997.

Sarah Spiers, Ciara Glennon and Jane Rimmer disappeared from Claremont in 1996 and 1997. ( ABC News )

He is also facing charges of attacking an 18-year-old woman in her own home in February 1988, and of abducting and sexually assaulting a 17-year-old girl at Karrakatta Cemetery in February 1995 — 11 months before Ms Spiers disappeared.

The body of Ms Spiers has never been found.

Ms Rimmer's body was discovered at Wellard south of Perth two months after she vanished in June 1996, while Ms Glennon's body was found at Eglington, north of the city, about three weeks after she disappeared in March 1997.

Mr Edwards denies all the allegations against him and has been held at Hakea Prison ahead of his trial.

'Extreme porn' evidence against accused

The directions hearing began last Wednesday and was adjourned after an application by prosecutors, but not before details emerged of "extreme" pornography prosecutors want to present as evidence against Mr Edwards.

State prosecutors want the judge-alone trial to consider it along with other "propensity evidence" — evidence which is not directly related to the alleged crimes, but might show past conduct relevant to the case.

Mr Edwards appeared in court in person when the directions hearing began last week. ( Supplied: Anne Barnetson )

State prosecutor Carmel Barbagallo revealed she wanted Justice Stephen Hall to view a video and a movie of pornography and BDSM which she was going to argue was relevant to the hearing.

"We're talking about pornography that is extreme. There is no description I can give … that adequately reflects what's in the material," she said.

Mr Edwards's defence team opposed the submission, but Justice Hall decided he would view the material.

It was also revealed in court Mr Edwards had taken part in a six-hour video recorded interview with police, which Ms Barbagallo also submitted should be viewed by Justice Hall.

Justice Stephen Hall is due to oversee the judge-only trial of Mr Edwards. ( Supplied )

In addition, Ms Barbagallo said there was "a prison call" which was part of recent material, as well as 20 other witness statements.

Other potential categories of evidence brought up at the hearing included "the Huntingdale Prowler", "women's clothing", "Hollywood hospital" and "Telstra living witness".

The hearing is also expected to deal with the defence team's application for Mr Edwards to have separate a trial for two of the offences against him.

Mr Edwards's lawyers had said they were going to seek to have all, or parts of, the directions hearing suppressed from publication, however earlier this month they withdrew their application.

Trial follows 22 years of questions

The nine-month trial will be the culmination of one of Australia's longest running and most expensive murder investigations.

It included the setting up of a special police taskforce known as Macro, which was established on June 10, 1996, just days after Ms Rimmer's disappearance.

Over the past 22 years, the taskforce has involved hundreds of officers and investigated thousands of people.

Mr Edwards was arrested at his Kewdale home three days before Christmas in 2016 and charged with the murders of Ms Rimmer and Ms Glennon, as well as the alleged 1988 and 1995 attacks.

He was charged with Ms Spiers's murder in February 2018.

Mr Edwards formally pleaded not guilty in July last year to all nine charges against him.