"delayed referral"

i took an appointment in September with my GP at the hayes town medical centre as i was having long-lasting unexplained hip pain.

that appointment got cancelled last minute by the doctor and i had to wait 3 more weeks (on top of the 2-3 weeks i had already waited for the cancelled appointment) before seeing a doctor. instead of sending me to do exams or to a specialist to find out what I had the doctor send me to physiotherapy.  When i asked why they weren't sending me for tests (ultrasound, MRI...) I was told i had to choose between treatment (physiotherapy) and medical exams (X-ray), meaning that if i choose X-ray and it doesn't show anything i will have to wait again for GP and then for referral.

physiotherapy did not help and the physiotherapist had no idea of what i had...

when i went to see the GP in January for a cold/flu i mentioned that my hip pain was getting more and more frequent but the GP refused to do anything for me and told me to wait.

the physiotherapist then finally recognised that she did not know what i had or how to fix it and suggested that i get an X-Ray done to rule out more severe problems like osteoporosis, bone cancer, abnormal bone growth...

so i went to see the GP again but the GP had not received/read the physiotherapist email so i had to convince the doctor to refer me for X-ray and they did not put any details on the referral (just "right hip and joint").

when the X-ray was done in February i was told that the surgery would call me or send an email to let me know of the results but they never did and when i asked about the results i was told that i had to get a GP appointment (over 2 weeks wait again) to know the results.

the GP told me that my hip was described as "normal" in the report (no more detail or information i don't even know what they looked for) and told me to go home! even when i explained that my pain was still on all the time and not getting better I was told to wait and have faith.. i had to cry in their office for them to finally refer me to a specialist!

The Doctor told me that the specialist appointment would be in 2 weeks time at Hillingdon hospital but when i received the appointment letter it was nearly 2 month time at Mount Vernon hospital (1h30 away!)

given that waiting times are usually long for all medical consultation (including this GP surgery) i don't understand why a doctor would wait so long to refer a patient in pain to the right specialist. 

this is a waste of time and money for everyone (me having to take 4 GP appointments instead of 1 and missing work to go to physiotherapy appointments and X-ray in the middle of the day 45 min from where i live; and the GP and Physiotherapist who could have used those 3 useless appointments to see more patients).

In my opinion it is also a major risk of a simple problem escalating and becoming chronic, harder (hence more expensive to treat...) to fix or causing uncurable damages to the joint or related problems elsewhere in the body!

i don't understand either why both doctors i spoke to and the physiotherapist only considered X-ray as a test: the common (and fast/easy) to do exam for joints is ultrasound as it shows the soft parts of the joint and ligaments (instead of just the bones). 

i know that it is usual to send patients to the hospitals within the same district (in this case hillingdon) but i don't understand why when there is such long waiting time there is no option to look at other nearby hospitals as well (that are in different districts but are closer and might have shorter waiting times). again it feels like a waste of time for patients who have to stay in pain for longer.

lastly, I take issue with a doctor who relies on "faith", "hope" and "wait and see" to cure patients and dismisses patients concern, pain and serious medical issues.