Well I got there in the end, but only after a lot of arsing around...
For the benefit of anyone reading this in the future, the best advice I can give from my persepective would be;
1. Obtain all of your medical records and keep your own copies
2. Go and see your own specialist. Try and get a consultant from a recognised centre of excellence rather then a district general hospital.
3. Make a complaint in writing if you think they are taking an unreasonable amount of time. I eventually had to send a couple of weary letters to the chief medical officer to get things moving.
4. Be polite to the admin staff that answer the phone, they will actually help you out if you are nice to them and need stuff passing to the AME's more quickly.
5. As per the other good advice on this thread, DONT GIVE UP!!!