Hospital patients at Royal London’ get a spoonful of medicine from a pussycat

Meet the cat which has been recruited as a volunteer hospital visitor at the Royal London to get well.

... the cat that provides an escape for patients to recover. Picture: Pets As Therapy - Credit: Pets As Therapy

He's one friendly feline that brings a smile to patients as a kind of 'fury medicine' to help them get better.

The long-haired black moggy called 'London' appropriately was recruited by the Pets As Therapy charity which uses furry creatures to help recovery.

London's owner was looking for things to do with her cat. She found Pets As Therapy on the internet and thought it was a good thing idea—it keeps the cat out of mischief and off the streets.

But London actually provides "an escape to what patients are going through", its owner believes, and triggers conversations in the wards about the patients' own pets they're looking forward to be reunited with when they eventually go home.

The expression "London made my day" is something the hospital in Whitechapel now hears regularly.