Liking something does not necessarily mean it is the best way. Drawing up medications is the most frequently performed procedure by anaesthetists and involves more human factors considerations than any other. The risk of a medication error during preparation is 17 times greater with manual preparation of syringes compared with prefilled syringes. The NPSA (National Patient Safety Agency) ‘Standard Operating Procedure for preparing injectable medicines in clinical areas’ has 52 steps; 30 (58%) steps are eliminated by using a prefilled syringes, and 22 (42%) of these eliminated steps could cause harm if performed incorrectly. The use of prefilled syringes also saves time and reduces anaesthetists’ cognitive load, facilitating all the other activities involved in direct patient care.