If I was in your position, I would look into a University hospital. They normally hire the best doctors and specialist. Your doctor should already be referring you to a specialist. If you are suffering from arthitis then the specialist would be a rheumatologist. For something thats bothering you from a year ago and getting worse, I would definitely ask for a referral.

When I was sick, I actually looked for and found an university specialist. I called the university and asked what was needed to see them. They told me to get a referral for insurance purposes. Once I got it from my general practitioner (I told him the name of the doctor and told him I wanted to see them), I was in the system. Then I was able to see quite a few specialist as it was one system (they had a hard time finding out what was wrong). I would have an appointment with one specialist and within the same appointment they would call another specialist to come and see me. There were days when three different specialist would have a conference while I sitting there, each wanting another blood panel specified. :-P