Newly arrived dentists from Poland are helping to make a dramatic cut in the once seemingly endless queues for NHS treatment in South East Cornwall. Alexsandra Miechowicz-Wacnala and Mariusz Rzepski have joined the Windsor Place practice of Gerrard Bradshaw in Liskeard on three-year contracts, and have rapidly settled into a new way of life. With a total staff of 12, including one other dentist from Germany, the surgery now deals with almost 10,000 NHS patients, a total which could soon be approaching 15,000. When Mr Bradshaw bought the practice three years ago and moved to Cornwall from Southampton with his wife Jane and baby daughter Pippa he understands he was the only dentist in the county taking on new NHS patients. That was because he believed in treating those on low incomes, and saw the recent Department of Health initiative of recruiting new dentists from overseas as the way to expand on his belief. Now he says he is delighted with the 'phenomenal' contribution Alexsandra and Mariusz are making as a result of their learning about the opportunities in this country through the Cornwall Healthcare Trust. He admits to being disappointed with a recent cut of 8 per cent in his budget at a time when the Polish pair have just arrived to take on their share of NHS patients. He also refuses to condemn dentists who deal with only the private sector, saying it was normally a case of financial necessity rather than greed. Alexsandra has been joined at her home in Saltash by her husband, an engineer. One of her main objectives in coming was to improve her English, and she found it rather difficult to understand her Cornish clients at first. However, she now finds them 'straightforward and kind', and loves the country which is rather warmer than her part of Poland 'where its often minus 10 in winter.' Mariusz is soon to be joined at the house he rents in Liskeard by his wife and one year old child. He too has built up a rapport with his patients, and admires the Cornish countryside very much. Mr Bradshaw respects the skill shown by his Polish counterparts, and sees the contribution they are making as very much the way forward. Its hard to attract young English dentists to rural areas he says, but then Alexsandra and Mariusz have provided him with an ideal solution to the problem.