Surgeons
The NHS was forced to pay £1.3 billion in compensation last year for mistaken testicle removal .

The NHS has been forced to pay more than £1 million in compensation to men who had a testicle removed in error, figures show.

In many botched cases, patients have then required a second operation. In some instances, where blunders meant a patient had the wrong testicle removed, surgeons have had to go back and remove the patient's second testicle.

Mix-ups have led to 56 successful cases being brought by men who have been affected by medical mistakes, according to figures from the National Health Service Litigation Authority.

A total of £1.3m has been paid to victims, with individual compensation averaging £23,000. A man left infertile by a surgeons' mistakes could expect compensation of £70,000.

Common mistakes include misdiagnosis by doctors of testicular torsion, and errors made during complicated hernia operations.

Roger Goss, co-director of Patient Concern, told The Sun: "It is amazing that surgeons don't take enough care to guarantee that they are removing the correct testicle.

"Despite the huge total compensation bill, individual payments sound modest for wrecking men's lives."

in 2012, the NHS paid a record £1.2 billion in compensation fees, up nearly 50 per cent on the year before.

Blunders made by midwives alone accounted for £420m. Overall, 14,000 cases involving medical mistakes were settled last year.