A doctor who left Brunswick Park Health Centre after it was gutted by fire has expressed her frustration at the continued delays preventing her return.

Dr Stella Okonkwo, who worked at the health centre in Brunswick Avenue for 25 years before it was closed for refurbishment in 2011, said the issue of contention remained increased service charges.

She said: “NHS England is trying to justify themselves by giving a lower figure for service charges, which doesn’t make sense to me. I was quoted £25,000 service charges in a letter and was told by my lawyer there was nothing preventing this from rising to £30,000 within a year.”

She added there had been a meeting scheduled last Wednesday between herself, NHS England, NHS Property services, which is in charge of the building, and Dr Nitin Lakhani who was also in Brunswick Park, but the representative from NHS Property Services did not turn up.

She said: “The people who were able to make a decision about what is going to happen were not there, and they haven’t explained why they didn’t turn up. We should meet face to face and I can show them papers detailing the changes to service charges.”

Dr Okonkwo said she wanted to take over the management of the practice and arrange cleaning and paying for the upkeep of the centre, which were included in the service charge, herself.

She said: “Why should I pay someone else to manage the property when I can do that myself?”

However, at meeting of the Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee last week, Neil Roberts of NHS England said Dr Lakhani would only move back in if he was able to buy the practice. This could delay Dr Okonkwo's return as she could not occupy the whole practice herself.

She added she wanted to move in “tomorrow” if she was offered reasonable service charges and security of tenure.

Dr Okonkwo, who is currently working from a converted house in Osidge Lane said: “We’re keeping on through sheer willpower. There are two practices serving 6,500 patients crammed into space for one. The delay is affecting the quality of service we offer our patients. MP Theresa Villiers said she was horrified at the conditions here.

“We need to push them and continue discussions. We need to move in.”