GPs and practice staff across London face “appalling and systemic” racism from the public, according to a new report.

More than a third of workers in primary health reported experiencing racial discrimination or harassment within the previous year, according to a Health Education England investigation into London. In the survey of 1,000 GPs and other staff, 29% also said they had faced discrimination or harassment from colleagues. Race was the most frequently cited factor in abuse – but gender was also a source of discrimination, the survey found. The report calls for primary care staff to have access to an independent whistleblowing body.

One worker said: “My employers bullied me and made sexist and racist comments to me and other members of staff from the same mixed background as myself. They commented on my religion and would say I’m going to hell because I don’t believe what they believe. They failed my probation with no valid reason.”

The Independent, which obtained the survey, said that GPs elsewhere in the UK reported similar problems. One unnamed GP told the paper: “We lost two GPs, both moved. One is Asian, and other one is black. My Asian colleague left to work down south, they felt that their ethnicity wouldn’t be a big issue as much as up north. The second was a black doctor who emigrated to Canada.”

Dr Naureen Bhatti, primary care lead for race equality at Health Education England London, said: “This is the first ever London-wide survey of discrimination and harassment in primary care, which is where 90 per cent of NHS consultations take place. A number of those taking part reported being victims of discrimination both in the workplace and in the communities they serve. While this is hard to hear, it is valuable knowledge that can help us explore the underlying issues and take clear and effective steps to address them.”

Dr Kamal Sidhu, GP chair for the British Association of Physicians of Indian Origin, said racism had “a real, harmful impact on patient safety.” Dr Sidhu said: “A real adverse impact in the sense that you’re much more likely to lose that practitioner from the system. If they’re not able to practise, or leave, who is going to look after that group of patients?”