"Impossible to get onto the appointments list"

I was recommended to the restorative surgery department for the Birmingham Dental Hospital by my dentist last year. I never heard back from them, so I contacted them after two months. Apparently the referral is sent to a "medical secretary" who then enters you into the appointment waiting list. The secretary at the time told me that the referral was incomplete and that x-rays were missing. My dentist promptly emailed the x-rays. Then I was told that the x-rays were present but the referral had gone missing, so my dentist sent the referral again. Now I was told the x-rays were missing again. This is an infinite loop and I am still trying to get on the patient waiting list an year later. I have made several calls. The secretaries have changed, the extension numbers changed, but the problem remains. My dentist has given up. I am appalled by the way my case has been handled. Utterly incompetent, I think this department is not fit for purpose. At no point have they contacted me or my dentist to state there is a problem with the referral. I have been chasing this up all at my end and expense. I keep being transferred between people, often to non-existing extension numbers, people out-to-lunch and automatic answering machines with full voice-mail boxes. Appalling.