A surgeon was supposed to remove a cyst, but instead cut off the patient's whole right testicle.

The surgeon is accused of misconduct and also of stealing medication.

A General Medical Council hearing was told the surgical error was made as a nurse helping the surgeon turned her back to get a stitch. When she turned around the testicle had been removed.

An investigation was launched and the doctor was dismissed by his employer, Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust.

The case proves that it is not just complex and lengthy surgical procedures that go wrong.

Even the most basic, most routine operations can go wrong and, as this case illustrates, with appalling results.

It's really quite frightening that a trained surgeon could make such an error, and the patient's trust must be shattered.

Patients must be protected and this sort of thing stopped from happening. Surgical error and medical negligence are all too common, and when hospitals and NHS trusts aren't forthcoming with apologies and ways to rectify mistakes, patients turn to lawyers for help and redress.

Basic patient safety should be a given. If mistakes were eradicated or reduced, there would be more money for front line patient care.

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