If they want to go and check they can tell me how long they're going to wait before doing so. For example if the scout's not expected back for an hour but they're going to start worrying after only half an hour, then at the half-hour point I'll check and find out what they're doing.
It does, provided that - both in and out of character - people are willing to commit to doing what they say they're going to do.
If I ask what your character's doing for the hour the scout expects to be gone and you say your character's just going to wait for her to return, that's your action declaration and you're committed to it unless something interrupts you e.g. a wandering monster or a scream in the distance or whatever.
Which means that if after the hour I come back and ask "What next?" and you say "Well, after half an hour I would have..." I'm completely within my rights to shut you down right there for two reasons: one, you now know nothing happens in the full hour and two, you already committed yourself to doing nothing for that time.
And if you want to go to where people aren't committed to their action declarations once they've been made, we've got bigger and likely unsolvable problems.