The NHS is breaking recruitment rules, with one in four new medics now coming from developing countries which are supposed to be protected by ethical codes, an investigation reveals.

The Telegraph has uncovered evidence that the health service is targeting medics from such countries - despite strict rules which are supposed to protect the poorest parts of the world.

The Department of Health and Social Care and the Department for International Development identifies 97 countries which “should not be actively recruited from” because they are in receipt of aid, and often suffering from shortages of medics.

They include Pakistan, Nigeria, Egypt, Myanmar, Zimbabwe, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

But NHS trusts have used agencies to recruit doctors from such countries, the investigation reveals.

It also shows that the number of doctors coming from such countries to work in the UK has doubled in the last two years.

In total, 27 per cent of all new medics joining the medical register last year came from countries on the “banned” list, figures from the General Medical Council (GMC) show.

The records show that last year 4,161 doctors registered to work in Britain from countries which should not be targeted for recruitment - a rise from 2,206 from the same countries in 2016.