A man who had a lung removed after being misdiagnosed with cancer has met the health board who made the blunder, it was confirmed last night.
Laurence Ball, 58, of Mossbank, Shetland, was told he had a tumour in his lung and needed surgery to remove the organ.
But soon after the operation, doctors revealed to the father of four that he would not need chemotherapy – as he never had cancer in the first place.
Mr Ball, who was a firefighter for 31 years, claimed last month that NHS Grampian had offered him no explanation or apology.
He was preparing a court action for damages against the health board. Last week representatives from the board travelled to his home for a private meeting.
Mr Ball told a newspaper: “They were very sympathetic, but they have loyalty to their cancer team and do not want to shoulder all the responsibility on one individual.
“They conceded that a mistake had been made. It was a very positive meeting and I was very encouraged.
“The next few days will be a question of coming to some sort of conclusion outside of the legal framework.”
NHS Grampian previously said it would offer Mr Ball the opportunity of a face-to-face meeting to review the clinical circumstances of his care, without prejudice to any legal action he chose to pursue.
A spokesman for the health board said: “I can confirm that we had a private meeting with Mr Ball in Shetland last week.”
Mr Ball, a former specialist industrial firefighter, first went to the doctor in May 2005 after developing a chest infection. Initial treatment failed to help, so he was sent for an X-ray and told he had cancer.
Doctors told him he had developed non-small lung cancer in the upper left lobe of his left lung.
In August that year, Mr Ball underwent surgery at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, where doctors removed the whole lung.
But soon afterwards doctors told him he did not have cancer after all.
Since the operation he has suffered an almost fatal pneumothorax, which makes the lung collapse.
He claimed this was caused by the extra strain placed on his remaining lung.
A lawyer took his case to NHS Grampian, but after an investigation health chiefs concluded there was no individual guilty of incompetence or negligence.
He was planning to get a series of independent tests carried out and present the evidence to NHS Grampian before last week’s meeting.