Therapy dog brings comfort and cuddles for six years to Harlow mental health unit
Patch the cocker spaniel has helped hundreds of patients and staff
Patch the cocker spaniel has been bringing comfort and cuddles to mental health patients in Harlow for six years.
His owner Mike Tew brings him to the Derwent Centre, where he has helped hundreds of patients and staff.
They volunteer with the charity Pets as Therapy.
In interview with Greatest Hits Radio Essex News, Mike said that Patch is the "centre of attention" and puts a smile onto people's faces.
"I just like to go in with Patch to be a person to come alongside patients, really, to just bring something different into their lives.
"We're not doctors, nurses, therapists, psychologists or anything like that. We're just normal human beings and a dog, and we just chat."
He shared an example of how Patch can brighten someone's day:
"One day I was there and a patient had obviously had some sort of assessment with the doctor and she came out absolutely in tears and was very distressed.
"She saw Patch, she got down on the floor, she cuddled him, stroked him.
"I was with her for about 10 minutes and then we had a little conversation and then she went away smiling and I thought, that's what we're there to do, really, just to help people out."
Mike said that Patch knows when he is going to volunteer at the Derwent Centre:
"Generally, I say to him in the morning that "we're going in Patch, we're going to go and see the boys and girls this afternoon," and I get a waggy tail.
"So he knows what's there when we set off, he knows where we're going and he's very keen to to go in there and he often gets a nice welcome from the reception people."
"I can see that we make a difference and I think that's important."
"It's just amazing to see the difference that you do make. And I would say if anybody else is thinking of doing something with their dog, this is a very worthwhile thing to be doing."
"We've been coming in once a week when we've been able to and we've been doing that now for about six years. So he's quite a veteran coming in."