'Passionate, forthright and caring': Colleagues of missing midwife Samantha Eastwood concerned about her wellbeing
Samantha Eastwood, a midwife at the Royal Stoke Hospital in Staffordshire, was last seen leaving work before driving off in her car last Friday.
She has not been seen since and colleagues of the 28-year-old are becoming concerned for her welfare.
Liz Rix, Chief Nurse at University Hospitals of North Midlands told ITV News that Samantha’s colleagues informed the police of her disappearance just 20 minutes after being late for work.
“She’s passionate, forthright, really cares about the service that we deliver to mum’s and babies and not afraid to stand up for what she believes in.”
“Sam is a dedicated and passionate midwife – being part of a team on the delivery suite – you don’t just not turn up to work without saying why. Very quickly, her not being there, the staff began to enquire as to why she wasn’t there.”
“It’s been an incredibly different week for her colleagues – they’re doing everything they can to help find Sam.”
Samantha's (left) was last seen as she left work on 27 July
On Wednesday, Staffordshire Police released CCTV of Ms Eastwood leaving work with a female colleague, before driving off alone in her Volvo car at 7.47am.
It is hoped releasing the footage may jog memories and help lead police to Ms Eastwood.
Several locations are now being searched and the public are urged to report any sightings of vehicles parked in “strange locations”, isolated areas, or lay-bys.
Detectives have also said Ms Eastwood left her bank cards at home and is believed to have “no access to money”.
Anyone with information is asked to contact Staffordshire Police immediately on 101, quoting incident 940 of 27 July 2018.