Geordie Hospital star Katherine Watson has gone missing...

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Police have launched a desperate search for a missing Channel 4 star, with officers saying they are 'increasingly concerned for her welfare'



Katherine Watson, often known as Katie, became a recognisable community figure after appearing in the TV series Geordie Hospital, which focused on her work as a chaplain.

The 50-year-old ex-Army officer has been missing from the Newcastle area since early Thursday afternoon.

Thousands have shared the initial police appeal to find her, with many who experienced her care and support at Newcastle Hospitals expressing heartfelt messages of hope that she is found safe soon.

One retired doctor who worked with her at the hospital said on social media: 'For many of us at Newcastle Hospitals she was our rock during the worst parts of the Covid Pandemic.'

Northumbria Police has appealed police to the public for information on her whereabouts to ensure she is safe and well.

Katherine was last seen wearing a green hat, a back pack, with dark trousers and a dark hooded top. She has a number of tattoos on her arms, as well as a military tattoo on her chest.

Katherine, or anyone who knows her whereabouts, is asked to contact police by sending a direct message on social media, using the live chat function or report forms on our website, or by calling 101 quoting reference: NP-20240919-0717.

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Body found in search for missing NHS TV chaplain

A body has been found in the search for a missing hospital chaplain.

Katherine Watson, 50, who worked as the head of chaplaincy at a Newcastle NHS trust and was featured in the TV series Geordie Hospital, went missing on Thursday.

Northumbria Police said a body was discovered in the Jesmond Dene area of Newcastle, which it believed was Ms Watson.

Supt Darren Adams said it was "an incredibly sad outcome".

No third party was believed to have been involved in the death, the force said.

Ms Watson - also known as Reverend Captain Katie Watson - joined the army when she was 18 and served in Bosnia, Croatia and Northern Ireland.

She joined Newcastle Upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust in 2007 and became head of chaplaincy in 2020.

She appeared in Channel 4's Geordie Hospital alongside her staff welfare hound Poppy.

People who knew Ms Watson have taken to social media to write tributes, with one calling her the "most wonderful woman" and others saying she was "kind" and "considerate".

Northumbria Police said a formal identification of the body had yet to be carried out.

In a joint statement the Bishop of Newcastle, Dr Helen-Ann Hartley, and the Bishop of Berwick, the Right Reverend Mark Wroe, said they mourned Ms Watson's death with a "deep feeling of loss".

She lived her vocation in "service, compassion and humility", they said, adding: "Our first thoughts are with her partner Emily and their children and all who knew and loved Katie."