A man who went into Royal Liverpool Hospital for a minor operation was given a vasectomy instead. Vasectomy is a surgical procedure for male sterilization. During the procedure, the vasa deferentia of a man are tied or sealed, so sperm cannot enter into the seminal stream.

Because of the surgeon’s "catastrophic" blunder the unnamed patient was left sterile. The hospital has refused to give the patient’s age citing medical confidentiality, but the man is thought to be of an age at which he hoped to father children.

Doctors, who were meant to be performing a straightforward urological procedure, apologised unreservedly and operated again to reverse the vasectomy. However, it's not yet known if they succeeded, so the man faces an anxious wait to find out whether he is now fertile again.

Of course appologies alone are not enough in such cases: Clinical negligence lawyers say the patient could be entitled to a six-figure compensation payout from the hospital.

Ian Cohen, clinical negligence lawyer at Slater & Gordon, told Dailymail: "In a worst case scenario – sterility in a younger man with no children – the trust might be liable for a figure in excess of £100,000 in compensation."

The hospital trust’s medical director, Dr Peter Williams, confirmed the blunder, adding: ‘We have apologised. We greatly regret the distress this has caused him. We are investigating this fully to understand why it occurred and how we can ensure it does not happen again."

While the internal investigation is carried out, the surgeon has been suspended from operating.