Nurse wins prestigious ‘Rising Star’ award

A nurse from Guy’s and St Thomas’ has won a coveted ‘RCN London Rising Star of 2025’ award which recognises and celebrates the contribution of global majority nursing staff working in London.

The phrase ‘global majority’ is used as an empowering term as Black, indigenous and people of colour represent more than 80% of the world’s population. 

Fatima Sonko was praised for her unwavering commitment to excellence in patient care, her passion for justice and equality, and for being a champion for inclusion. 

Having trained as a nurse in The Gambia, Fatima moved to the UK in 2021 to advance her career. She successfully completed a master’s degree in chronic diseases management and joined Guy’s and St Thomas’ in 2023, eventually taking up a role with the urology service at Guy’s Hospital. 

Her ambition led her to join the Trust’s well regarded Kofoworola Abeni Pratt Fellowship. It is a programme that provides opportunities for people who are Black, Asian, Brown, or previously described as 'ethnic minorities' to gain experience supporting strategic projects and the potential to step into senior leadership roles. 

 Fatima’s job means that she shares examples of best practice and supports others, especially internationally educated staff, to develop their interview and application skills to reach their full potential. 

 Fatima said: “Coming into the Fellowship has given me the opportunity to sit in on those meetings where decisions are made. It gives me the chance to give first hand lived experience of what we face as junior members on the floor during those meetings. That is something I’m very grateful for. 

“I want to keep advocating for others, particularly for people from global majority areas, but even more specifically for nurses from Black and ethnic minority backgrounds. I want to show people just how much we really contribute to the NHS.

"This fellowship has really opened my mind to all the things you can get into. I’d like to venture into research, especially around health inequalities. That is something I’m quite passionate about. 

“At Guy’s and St Thomas’, we have a very diverse workforce, but it’s also the patients that we care for. It’s about having that representation and making sure that what we do reflects the workforce but it also caters to the need of the patients that we look after.” 

Kendra Schneller, Lead Kofoworola Abeni Pratt Fellow at Guy’s and St Thomas’, said: “Fatima’s journey is a powerful example of what can be achieved through resilience, vision, and an unwavering commitment to patient-centred safe and high-quality care. 

 “Despite the challenges of adapting to a new country and healthcare system Fatima has a unique ability to speak up with courage and empathy, ensuring that the voices of patients and staff and in particular, internationally educated staff are heard, listened and responded to and valued.”