At exactly 12:43p.m, on the 1st of November 2011, I was sitting somewhere minding my own business and then tuned in to JOY 99.7 FM. There was a live programme on the topic “Living with children with special needs”. The guest was a woman whose child was suffering from autism. She was narrating some of the horrendous difficulties and emotionally painful experiences she had encountered as a result of her child’s condition. It was very educative and quite captivating, and I really wish JOY FM would replay the programme to educate more listeners on how to deal with issues concerning children with special needs. Before tuning in to the station, I was in the process relishing some pleasant service experience I had received at the Best Western Hotel at the Airport Residential Area in Accra. As our religious brethren would put it, I was instructed by the spirit to tune in to JOY FM and I did. Suddenly, I was struck by an amazing bombshell dropped by the guest of the programme. She said that on one of her visits to a hospital with the child, one of the health professionals -- a nurse-- asked her how many children she had. She replied that the child she had brought to the hospital was her fourth. The nurse quickly exclaimed, “If you had stopped at three, this would not have happened!” And OMG! My heart stopped beating. In other words, if the woman had stopped giving birth after three children, she would not have had the fourth one with the special needs. According to the guest, she cried her heart out upon hearing those abominably obscene words. Suddenly, the happy mood I’d had all day long completely melted away. A spate of shivers quickly filtered down my spine. Why on earth would a trained health professional emit such stinky effluence? In my reflection over the issue, I plunged into my usual ecclesiastic mood and a verse in the Bible quickly popped up: “what goes into a man’s mouth does not make him unclean, but what comes out of his mouth, that is what makes him unclean”. Mathew 15:11. The holy book could never have got it wrong. What was even more devastating was that this absolutely despicable drama unfolded in the presence of the child. What often eludes us is that a lot of children in that condition are very smart. They may not be able to overtly express their intelligence, but are able to display a high level of contextual acumen. Their response to stimuli may be impaired, but they have an inbuilt intelligence. Much as the child could not visibly react to what the nurse said, he might have been able to cognitively process the message. Can anybody imagine the psychological and emotional impact the nurse’s vituperations could have on the child? ‘Devastating’ may be the answer. Again, what kind of attention would the nurse give to the poor mother and child? Your guess is as good as mine. Thankfully, it is not all about doom and gloom in our health facilities. We still have a lot of God-sent health professionals in our hospitals. I have come across a lot of health professionals whose carefully-chosen words are enough to soothe your pain. They are able to apply the relevant psychological skills that stimulate the healing and recovery process. These are some of the reasons that I am loyally glued to my favourite Doctor Stella B of the Lighthouse Mission Hospital. The incident is probably a case of “in every house, there is a Mensah”. Well, if we should go by that saying, then my piece of advice for the Mensahs is that it is better to sing the songs of Tigare Komfo (a fetish priest), than to sing some satanic verses that can worsen the plight of the afflicted. After all, singing Tigare (fetish) songs may, at worst, only offend the highly religious. But singing satanic verses, as the nurse did, could fast-track one’s journey to the underworld. We demand good customer care everywhere, including our hospitals, because we deserve it. Customer care should not be considered as a privilege, but perceived as a right by both service providers and clients. Generally, the perception about service delivery in our hospitals is nothing to be proud of. But the perception can only be changed if the attitudes of health service providers improve. Service providers should have a passion for their work, and those in the health service should have a double-dose of that. I look forward to the day when a deliverance service will be held for all the Mensahs in our service industry. In relation to that, I would be quick to propose a 21-day special fasting, prayer and deliverance session -- to be crowned with a powerful spirit-filled anointing service. And I hope that day will come soon.