"Waiting times of almost a year?"

I was seen in outpatients in May and was recommended treatment for my chronic pain.

This consisted of two day surgeries. Upon hearing nothing I called last week (beginning of September) to see when my treatment was likely. I've just had my call returned and have been told that they are still allocating dates to people put forward last year. When I said "So I'm guessing my appointments will be sometime next year", I was told yes, they would indeed be next year. The 18 week rule is utter tosh. Should I now be requesting my treatment privately as you cannot provide it in an adequate time frame?