mick
i take your points on board and have sympathy for all of you in this position but staff shortage means the person who would be doing the interview (who is an operational bod) is needed for that so as you can see it's a catch 22 situation
hr may struggle but as i have said in previous threads once in the company they (in my case anyway) are second to none and do their best for you
sorry i'm not of more help (and cut them a bit of slack doesn't help your cause) but a lot of patience can reap rewards