"Referrals"

I'm wondering if there is a system in place for checking referrals made through A and E are actually progressed further ?

We are currently waiting on an appointment which is significantly beyond the advised wait time. I believe a big part of the reason is the referral wasn't progressed until I phoned to check the progress and it couldn't be found. When I phoned a second time I was told the appointment date wouldn't have been allocated yet as it was a recent referral. It wasn't, but the referral date I was told at this point was the date I originally called which highlighted the referral hadn't been progressed yet.

As it stands, the referral date noted is 54 days after the visit to A and E where we were advised the referral would be made.

Obviously this has resulted in almost an additional 2 months being added to the waiting time to be seen.

I understand it's busy and in addition that referrals are prioritised but this is totally different to them being missed completely.

We have had a similar situation previously where an A and E referral was not progressed until I called enquiring about the appointment.

It feels like there is a missing link somewhere unless it is just unfortunate we have experienced this on two occasions.