Referee not giving a reference

I was offered a job as a healthcare assistant in May and listed my former manager as a referee because the hospital require one referee to be a current or most recent manager. My referee said he was happy to give a reference but he keeps insisting he hasn't received a request even though it was forwarded to him by another manager at the store I worked at (I had to give a different email address because my former manager didn't have an external address).

He's now buggered off on holiday and HR at the store have said they can't give a reference due to company policy so it has to be my former manager.

What do I say to the recruitment officer in charge of my application? Because I really want this job and I've been waiting for 3 months already.

There's not much you can do about it while the potential referee is on holiday, but you need to be polite but more firm about it.

Email the referee and check the email address is correct, copying in the HR department. That should establish contact with all parties. Politely point out that your job is at risk if you can't get a reference, and the company reference is insufficient.

Give the employer the address of the referee's company and ask them to write to the referee there.

I was offered a job as a healthcare assistant in May and listed my former manager as a referee because the hospital require one referee to be a current or most recent manager. My referee said he was happy to give a reference but he keeps insisting he hasn't received a request even though it was forwarded to him by another manager at the store I worked at (I had to give a different email address because my former manager didn't have an external address).

He's now buggered off on holiday and HR at the store have said they can't give a reference due to company policy so it has to be my former manager.

What do I say to the recruitment officer in charge of my application? Because I really want this job and I've been waiting for 3 months already.

The referee doesn't have an email address I can use. His company one is internal and he gave me a personal one but it doesn't work.

I'm just going to have to see him again when he's back and I'm done with exams and stuff and let him know that my job will be at risk.

Thanks

What do you mean by 'his company one is an internal one'?

his e-mail address can only be used to send and receive emails with addresses from the same company.

Well someone else will have to comment on the technology of that. I'd suggest what the situation is, is that the company has a 'no references' policy and this person is prepared to give you a reference anyway, but wants to keep it from their personal, rather than work email, to keep within the company rules. If they are on leave, it makes little difference, but I'd still use the work email to tell them the private email isn't working.

if you continue to struggle it might be worth getting in touch with the company your job is worth and letting them know your previous company doesn't provide references but you're trying to get one from your manager anyway, if this doesn't work out are there any alternatives they could consider e.g. a reference from a colleague or a different previous manager