Patient recovery – defined as the time from the end of anaesthesia/surgery to regaining full control of airway reflexes. It inclues the management of immediate post-operative complications (pain, nausea, airway obstruction, vomiting etc ) . The patient then being in a stable condition can be transferred to an area with reduced staffing such as a ward (i.e. not necessarily needing one-to-one nursing care). Alternatively the patient may be transferres to another high-care can be maintained for longer periods.