“Never judge a book by its cover!” This proverb has particular relevance to Professor Naylor’s book as “medication errors” discusses a wide range of challenging issues. In particular, as well as an account of drug errors and their aetiology, it also provides a relevant and detailed commentary on adverse event reporting, risk management, and, consequently, clinical governance.

About one million patients a day in the UK visit their doctor or hospital interacting with 700 000 healthcare staff. Many …