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Careful records, including instructions, patient observations and drug administration, should be maintained (increasingly in an electronic form) and staff should be able to interpret the information and initiate appropriate action where necessary.

Patient information should be continuously recorded and updated (in electronic or written format). Anaesthetic Information Management Systems, a specialised form of electronic health record, should be considered as electronic patient charts in the perioperative and recovery period as they provide a more accurate and complete reflection of the patient’s perioperative physiological parameters.¹⁹³

Capnography, pulse oximetry and non-invasive blood pressure monitoring should be available until the patient is fully recovered from general anaesthesia. An electrocardiograph, nerve stimulator, thermometer and glucometer should also be readily available.^{131,182,192,194}

Monitoring equipment should be used in accordance with the Association of Anaesthetists minimum standards of monitoring.^{123,131,185,195}

A brief interruption of monitoring during transfer of the patient from theatre is only acceptable if the recovery area is immediately adjacent to the operating theatre. Otherwise, monitoring should be continued during transfer to the same degree as any other intra or inter-hospital transfer.^123,196

Supplementary oxygen should be available for the transport of patients after general anaesthesia.¹³¹

Airway adjuncts should be available in the post-anaesthesia care unit (PACU) to minimise the incidence of upper airway obstruction that may lead to post obstructive pulmonary oedema and severe hypoxaemia.¹³¹

If a patient has known visual or hearing impairment or wears dentures, then their corrective lenses/hearing aid/dentures should be readily accessible and available postoperatively.¹⁹⁷

All institutions should have protocols and the necessary facilities for managing postoperative care and should review and update these regularly.¹⁹²

The following protocols should be held and easily accessible for:

• management of postoperative nausea and vomiting
• pain relief for patients with chronic pain¹⁹⁸
• hypothermia¹⁹⁹
• blood transfusion
• fluid therapy
• acute coronary syndrome
• respiratory diseases
• hypotension
• hypertension
• monitoring following central and peripheral neuraxial blockade²⁰⁰
• escalation to higher levels of postoperative care (e.g. to a critical care unit) should the...