"Delayed referral"

After a GP visit I was told I was being referred to my local hospital. 3 weeks later I call back saying I've not heard anything to be told the hospital has my referral. So I ring the hospital and am told they have no record of the referral. Call to the GP again and they manage to track down the Devon Referral Services who appear to have been sat on my referral for 3 weeks without doing anything.

After calling them I am told the referral will be sent to the hospital (there's two to choose from but I'll be picking the one nearby which my GP referred me to in the first place).

I'm a little confused as to what help this referral service is as all it does is slow down the process of getting an appointment where you need it. This is actually the second time I've had a similar problem with a delayed appointment with the same service.