A feared exodus of EU doctors as a result of Brexit is being eclipsed by greater numbers of foreign medics from outside the EU applying to work in Britain, new figures reveal.

Data from the General Medical Council (GMC), which regulates the profession, shows that the number of EU doctors granted a licence to practise in the UK between January last year and May this year fell by 8 per cent.

However, the number of licences granted to doctors from outside Europe has increased by 17 per cent since the referendum in June last year.

The data from the medical watchdog reveals the situation among doctors does not reflect the drop in applications from EU nurses, which dropped from 1,304 in July 2016 to 46 in April this year.

The reduction in nursing applications has been partly attributed to more stringent language tests introduced by the Nursing and Midwifery Council.

Charlie Massey, Chief Executive of the General Medical Council, told the Health Service Journal: “According to our figures, the supply of EEA doctors remains relatively stable but we are of course closely monitoring the situation.

“Our figures show that although there has been a slight decrease in the numbers of EU doctors applying to join the UK medical register since the referendum, we have also seen fewer EU doctors leaving the register over the same period and an increase in application from doctors from outside the EU.”