Leona Lewis sourced pictures of hospital staff from the Whittington, where she was born, and Homerton, where she grew up, for her cover version of ‘Angels’, which she has released to raise money for the NHS in its battle against coronavirus.

Leona, who was crowned champion of the ITV talent show the X-Factor 14 years ago, wanted to record a tribute using the Robbie Williams hit because she’s “been seeing all the amazing work that the healthcare workers are doing and just seeing how much they’ve been there for us”.

Speaking from her home in Los Angeles via video link, Leona, 35, told Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield on ITV’s This Morning: “I have friends who are nurses and family that are key workers and seeing their work and dedication and how much they’re putting on the line for us moved me to record a cover version of this song.

“My amazing friend Angelina is a nurse and she got some of the pictures for me. I wanted to get a range of images from a lot of the different hospitals, and I even got images from the hospital I was born, the Whittington Hospital, and the Homerton Hospital from the area I grew up In in Hackney.”

She added: “[‘Angels’ is] a big song to touch, but I think in this scenario I needed this lyric to convey the message and tribute.

Leona is accompanied by a violinist, cellist and pianist, on the track, and explained the process of recording during the pandemic.

“I’ve had to learn how to record myself, record my choir parts and edit it,” she said. “I’ve had to become proficient with engineering and recording. It was a process to get it together with the musicians as we are all isolated.

Homerton’s chief nurse Catherine Pelley said it was “wonderful” to be mentioned by Leona and for Homerton’s nurses to be featured in her video.

“It capped off a fantastic day of becoming an outstanding hospital from the CQC and, of course, was a fitting tribute to all the NHS as we celebrated our 72nd birthday,” she said.