Chelsea and Dr Eva Carneiro have parted company, with the club braced for what could prove an expensive legal battle.

The news has invited criticism from within the FA board room, with board member Heather Rabbatts expressing her ‘sadness and anger’ at Dr Carneiro’s departure.

The now former Chelsea first-team doctor was ordered to return to work last Friday for what would have been her first appearance at the club’s Cobham training ground since a bust-up with manager Jose Mourinho during the Premier League match against Swansea City on August 8.

Jose Mourinho and Eva Carneiro had a touchline row during Chelsea's draw with Swansea in August

Carneiro was dropped from the Chelsea bench as a result and will now sue the club for constructive dismissal

But Carneiro did not show, and according to club insiders on Tuesday she has still not been seen there. It is now clear that she has departed the club — as revealed by MailOnline on Tuesday.

Defending the doctor’s actions against Swansea, Rabbatts said last night: ‘Any other response would have been a dereliction of her duty and a breach of General Medical Council guidelines.

‘In acting properly she was then subject to verbal abuse and public criticism and in effect demoted by her removal from the bench.

‘Eva was one of the few very senior women in the game, a highly respected doctor who has acted with professional integrity in difficult circumstances and whose skills have been highly praised by her colleagues, the club and governing bodies.’

Chelsea may argue that her failure to turn up for work could weaken her case for constructive dismissal, even though arriving at Cobham could have amounted to accepting new terms of employment after she was publicly stripped of first-team duties.

Chelsea are aware that the Gibraltar-born medic is consulting top employment lawyers.

Carneiro was stripped of key duties after Mourinho accused her of making a mistake in running onto the pitch

Chelsea's doctor enters the field after Hazard ended up on the ground following a poor challenge at home

The Chelsea boss leaps into a furious rage which brings him on to the pitch after the pair attend to Hazard

Mourinho shouts across the pitch as Chelsea's Hazard lies injured following a foul at Stamford Bridge

Carneiro was criticised by Mourinho for treating Eden Hazard which meant he had to come off the pitch

Carneiro was banned from the bench and team hotel after Mourinho publicly accused her of making a mistake when she and team physiotherapist Jon Fearn rushed on to the pitch to treat Eden Hazard, having twice been waved on by referee Michael Oliver.

Mourinho’s explosive reaction at the time is the subject of an FA inquiry — as Sportsmail revealed last week — after a member of the public made a complaint, claiming that the Portuguese manager had shouted ‘filha da puta’; something that means ‘daughter of a whore’ and, if proven, could lead to Mourinho being banned for five matches.

Carneiro was Chelsea's doctor for five years before the incident that saw her stripped of her responsibilities

Carneiro made one of her first posts on Facebook, having previously been almost silent on social media

Tuesday FA officials said the video evidence submitted as part of the complaint was still being reviewed.

Mourinho’s accusation that his medical staff did not understand the game was met with widespread disapproval by Carneiro’s peers.

FIFA’s chief medical officer was among those to remind Mourinho that the welfare of players is the responsibility of medical staff and not the manager.

Indeed, a joint statement from the British Association of Sport and Exercise Medicine and the 500-strong Faculty of Sport and Exercise Medicine has been sent to the League Managers’ Association.

The FA’s position remains unclear. While it seems unlikely, Mourinho could yet be charged under the FA rule E3, which states that players and coaches can be punished for using ‘offensive, insulting or abusive language and/or gestures’.

With an aggravated breach, in this case possibly with reference to gender, a five-match ban is the minimum sanction.