Female patients showed a mortality rate of 8.15 per cent with a female doctor and 8.38 per cent with a male physician. The mortality rate in men was higher overall but showed a smaller discrepancy, with 10.15 per cent of men dying within 30 days of discharge with a female doctor and 10.23 per cent with a male one.

Published in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine, the research found that female patients were less likely to be readmitted within 30 days if they had a female doctor, with 15.23 per cent of women with a female doctor being readmitted, compared with 16.71 per cent of women with a male physician.

The team suggested that the effect could also be due to female doctors communicating with their female patients better, ultimately leading to better diagnoses and treatment.

The scientists also suggested that female patients may be more comfortable engaging in detailed and sensitive conversations with doctors of the same gender. A previous study from 2018 found that the more experience men had in treating women, the better their statistics.

However, some doctors showed scepticism over the research, given it took existing data from Medicare claims.

Senior lecturer at Newcastle University Dr Gavin Stewart, who is unaffiliated with the study, said: “The use of a retrospective observational study design is a major limitation to this work. There is clearly potential for confounding.

“The conclusions should be treated with circumspection unless corroborated by further studies.”