“We missed to check for pre-existing conditions”: Acting HOD of physiotherapy, Reena Shah, on the death of Nehal Rathwa

Nehal Rathwa, a physiotherapy student at Neotech institute and an intern at the Gotri Hospital, passed away on Thursday late at night after battling COVID for three days. Subsequently, the intern doctors at SSG hospital and elsewhere have joined in to protest the alleged institutionalized exploitation of physiotherapy students all over Vadodara.

Nehal Rathwa, an intern at the COVID ward, had pre-conditions of hyperthyroidism and diabetes type 1. Yet, a student with such implications had been allocated COVID duties at the Gotri Hospital. Reena Shah, the acting HOD of Physiotherapy at SSG, in an interview with Our Vadodara, said, “Before allotting, we missed to check her for any pre-existing conditions. However, we have now started to check students for any conditions before posting them.”

The students have also levied allegations of mishandling of the patient by the hospital. One of the interns at SSG and a close friend to Nehal Rathwa said, “She was admitted to the hospital at 2:30 PM, wherein she was given a mattress on the floor to lie. After a nine-hour wait and several calls to the superintendent, she was finally shifted to a bed.”

As per the initial application letter for the internship, the students had not been intimated about COVID duties. According to the students, it was due to this reason that Nehal, well-aware of her conditions, had offered to intern. In response to the allegations, Reena Shah said, “We had verbally established that only COVID duties would be allotted to interns.”

Hinting at a larger picture of exploitation by the college, the students of physiotherapy also alleged, “The HOD and Nodal Officer at the hospital had threatened to file a memo and suspend the students if we failed to undertake the duty.” This also raises eyebrows at the strong-arming of other college administrations like in the case Sumandeep college. 1000 students, complaining of below-par working conditions and sub-standard stipends, were recently suspended from the college for not appearing for their COVID duties.

As per her friends, Nehal worked tirelessly, learned to medicate the ailing COVID patients in only a span of four days, fed them, changed their diapers, and assisted everyone by being at the frontline. Even after the superintended’s assurance that he would reach out to higher officials to ensure that investigation is undertaken, the students do not feel content with the actions being taken in this regard. Pleading, the students reached out to the cameras in front of them and asked for nothing but justice for Nehal Rathwa.