PM's invite to No. 10 a 'huge honour' for chaplain

Maysoon Shafiq, lead chaplain at Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust, is the first female Muslim chaplaincy lead for an NHS trust in England.

She also sits as the Head of Islamic Advice for the national NHS Muslim Network.

The invitation from the PM Keir Starmer to the special event celebrating International Women’s Day was in recognition of her achievements as a faith leader at a local and national level.

Maysoon said: “Being invited along to No. 10 is a huge honour and significant for my community and people like me.

“I hope that seeing me attend this event serves as an inspiration to women like myself from BAME backgrounds who wear traditional dress.

“I hope it helps others to realise that how you look and dress is not important, but rather who you are, the skills you have and what you achieve is."

Maysoon leads a multi-faith team, with the trust's chaplaincy department providing spiritual, pastoral, and religious care to patients, staff, students, and visitors.

In recognition of her efforts to bridge gaps between faiths and beliefs, Maysoon has previously received the ‘Religious Advocate of the Year’ at the British Muslim Awards and has been named the ‘Most Impactful Alimah’ at the British Mosque Awards.

Nationally, around three-quarters of NHS staff are female, with women playing pivotal roles in the delivery of healthcare services in various careers and roles, from nurses to doctors, healthcare scientists and administrative staff, and more.

Daniel Hartley, director of people at Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust, said: “Across our services and professions, women act as role models and are inspiring future generations of the NHS workforce.

“At Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust, we are proud to have women represented across our board, with a pretty even split between women and men.

“Both our medical director and deputy medical director are women in a traditionally male dominated profession and we are seeing more and more young women pursue careers in medicine at TRFT which is great to see.”