Poor recovery facilities put patients' lives at risk

A report into the deaths of patients following surgery has said that many hospitals are operating on patients without adequate recovery facilities, putting their health at risk.

The finding is one of several criticisms of the way that surgery is conducted in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland made by the national confidential enquiry into perioperative deaths (NCEPOD).

The report stated that two fifths of hospitals in which deaths occurred within 30 days of surgery had no high dependency unit. Although this is a substantial improvement on the …