An official inquiry has found that institutional racism is a problem throughout the NHS, it was claimed.

The inquiry's report, due to be presented to Parliament, will brand the treatment of members of the ethnic minorities by NHS mental health services "a disgrace", according to The Guardian.

A leaked copy of the report urges Health Secretary John Reid to acknowledge the existence of institutional racism in mental health services and take action to eradicate it, the paper said.

But she said the Government recognised that the needs of mental health patients from the ethnic minorities were not being properly addressed and was taking steps to deal with the problem.

The inquiry was held after the death of David "Rocky" Bennett, a 38-year-old African Caribbean man with schizophrenia, who died in 1998 after he was restrained by nurses at the Norvic clinic, a medium secure unit in Norwich.

It quotes his report as saying: "The views of our witnesses were virtually unanimous. Institutional racism is present throughout the NHS.

"People from the black and minority ethnic communities who are involved in the mental health services are not getting the service they are entitled to. Putting it bluntly, it is a disgrace.

"Final responsibility lies fairly and squarely with the Department of Health."

He demanded "ministerial acknowledgement of the presence of institutional racism in the mental health services and a commitment to eliminate it."

Rethink is a charity involving people with severe mental illness and carers, with a network of mutual support groups around the country.

Claire Felix, Rethink's black and minority ethnic issues lead manager, said: "The findings of the inquiry into the tragic death of Rocky Bennett must be a wake-up call to the government.

"The government knows what the problems are. Its own reports have made the problems clear for a number of years. We are in the middle of yet another round of consultation over a strategy for change. What is needed is action that matches the scale of the problem."

Recent research by Rethink found that Black and minority ethnic service users are 40% more likely to be turned away when they ask for help than their white counterparts and 44 per cent of black and 42 per cent of Asian respondents were unhappy with the care they received compared with 20 per cent of white respondents.