Should patients be actively involved in following up their referrals?

I've been posting advice to patients advising them to personally follow up on referrals. Good advice I believe, which could save lives. I'm interested in people's views on this.

This is the message I'm sharing:

**Important message for patients relating to clinical referrals in England**

We need a specific effort to ensure ALL referrals are followed up. Some are getting 'lost'.

I urge all patients to check your referral has been received, ensure your GP and the clinical team you have been referred to have the referral.

Make sure you have a copy yourself too.

Things are difficult and we accept there are waits. Having information on the progress of your referral, and an assurance that is is being clinically prioritised is vital.

If patients are fully informed and assured of the progress of their referrals in real-time it could save time and effort in fielding enquiries and prevent them going missing or 'falling into a black hole', which is a reality for some people. It would also prevent clinical priorities being missed.

Maybe this is happening, and patients are being kept fully informed in real-time of the progress of their referrals. It would be good to hear examples of best practice.