RCN London announces Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic nursing Rising Stars of 2021 to kick off Black History Month Celebrations

RCN London has this week announced the winners of this year’s Rising Star Awards. The awards are part of RCN London’s celebrations for Black History Month which launched today, 1 October 2021.   

The Rising Star Awards recognise nurses and healthcare support workers from London’s Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic (BAME) nursing community who have made an outstanding contribution to the capital’s health and care system. The theme this year is anti-racism: literacy and transformation.

The winners were recognised for championing culture change and acting as role models; educating and mentoring colleagues to create more inclusive and supportive working environments; and for using their own experience to bring about meaningful improvements in services for their patients, particularly patients from a BAME background.  

The winners work across a range of settings in London including in hospitals and out in the community, and in specialist areas such as stroke services, substance misuse, and end-of-life care. 

London has the most ethnically diverse nursing NHS workforce in England with the majority of staff coming from BAME backgrounds.¹However, despite initiatives to level the playing field, nursing staff from BAME backgrounds still lag behind their white counterparts in many areas such as career progression and are more likely to face discrimination at work.²  

Rising Star winner, Jesca Gudza, the only Looked After Children’s Nurse in Bexley, said: 

“It is an honour to be recognised as one of RCN London’s Rising Stars. As a black nurse originally from Zimbabwe, I hope my award shows other nurses from abroad that our contribution does matter and that we are valued members of London’s nursing community.”

Another winner, Ann Roberts, a specialist palliative care nurse who started her role on the first day of lockdown in March 2020, said: 

“I am deeply touched to have been nominated for this award. Although it has been a steep learning curve I work with an exceptionally generous and supportive team.   For me, it is a privilege to be able to care for people at the end of their life and I am proud to work in service that provides care that always strives to understand and respects people’s uniqueness, cultures beliefs and values.”

Congratulating the winners, RCN Regional Director for London, Lisa Elliott, said: 

“Our winners this year are trailblazers, calling out unacceptable behaviour while inspiring colleagues to bring about real improvements in their workplace culture. They used their own lived experience to create more engaging ways to deliver more personalised care to their patients.  

While there have been some improvements to reduce racial inequalities in London, cultural transformation in the health and care system is not happening fast enough. Too many of the capital’s BAME nursing community still feel unheard, dismissed, and are rightly impatient for change. Employers must lead from the front, take a zero-tolerance approach to racism, continue to roll out practical actions to empower, promote and educate all staff members”.

Deputy Mayor for Communities and Social Justice, Dr Debbie Weekes-Bernard, said:

“Nurses and healthcare support workers from London’s Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic communities have made an outstanding contribution to the capital’s health and care system and it’s fitting to see so many recognised by RCN London’s Rising Star Awards.

“London has the most ethnically diverse nursing workforce in the country. They are an inspiration and have helped create more inclusive and supportive working environments around the capital. I hope their tireless work, and the incredible difference they continue to make, inspires others to consider a career in healthcare.”

The full list of winners is below