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@arnold_gostron
Your GP is likely talking rubbish. All NHS secondary care trusts have a responsibility to provide diagnosis AND treatment within 18 weeks of GP referral. That means that, for example, if you did have a slipped disc, the hospital you were referred to by your GP would have a responsibility to give you a specialist appointment and scan AND operation within 18 weeks. I'm sure you could see how this wouldn't work if it took 18 weeks just to get the scan.
Your GP may just be trying to fob you off a little - 60% of acute disc herniations will show significant improvement (i.e. not need surgery) within three months, and there is certainly an argument for not performing a scan until that time has passed, as for 60% of people that would be a wasted scan. The debate as to whether or not acute disc herniations should be operated on immediately or given a period of observation prior to operation is a subject of debate amongst surgeons (I say this as someone with moderate degree of experience in the management of spinal conditions), but horrific as the pain of a disc herniation is, chances are it will get better.
If you REALLY feel you need a scan (i.e. the discomfort/disability induced by the condition is so severe that you you would rather have an early spinal operation, rather than wait-and-see, with a good chance of spontaneous recovery), I would ask your GP to refer you for an urgent scan, and if he were unwilling to do so, ask to see another one of the GPs in the practice who would be likely to - another observation I have made is that it is quite easy to "bully" doctors in to ordering what, in their mind, is an unnecessary investigation - this is often easier with more senior doctors, who just can't be bothered to argue and don't want any trouble.
PS: this advice is NOT a substitute for a proper medical consultation - if you have worries about the advice you've been given by your GP, GET A SECOND OPINION.