The full extent of the crisis in morale gripping Scotland Yard has been exposed by an internal staff audit showing that only a third of officers would be confident of receiving a good service from the Met if they approached the organisation as members of the public.

The findings, obtained by the Observer, collated the views of 13,379 serving Met employees, and follow warnings from the former Met commissioner Lord Stevens that the "morale crisis" at the heart of policing is now so acute it ought to be a matter of public concern.

The dire financial plight of the Met was evident last week when the force announced it was selling its famous headquarters, New Scotland Yard, as part of a £500m cost-cutting plan.

The internal independent audit, called Your Views Count and incorporating the views of hundreds of senior officers, also found that only a fifth of employees believe that the Met's senior leadership is "doing a good job", while just 27% trusted them "to lead with integrity".

Alarmingly, only 19% believe that decisions made by senior management were taken with a view to what is best for the communities they police. Almost three in 10 said that some victims were "more deserving of a good service than others", raising the prospect that, on occasion, different approaches might be taken to victims who make a similar complaint. In addition, half of those who responded admitted that, despite a professional promise to treat everyone the same, "certain communities do little to deserve the respect of the police".

Compared with previous surveys, the audit found that "levels of satisfaction and morale are low and continuing to decrease". It added that the malaise that it says exists "across the organisation may be having a detrimental impact on the quality of our service delivery".

Chris Hobbs, a retired police officer who spent 23 years in the Met, including Special Branch, said: "This survey makes disturbing reading, not just for ministers and chief police officers but for law-abiding members of the public.

"It suggests a serious breakdown in relations between frontline officers and those who command them, which compounds the contempt those same frontline officers hold for a government that seems unaware of the difficulties faced by officers on a daily basis."

Problems also existed on a more local level, with only 19% of respondents believing that career development processes are fair. The survey, which was conducted in January and February but has only just come to light, would, according to Hobbs, present an even grimmer picture if conducted now.

He said: "Matters have deteriorated since then with further cuts, detrimental pension changes for many officers, officers being effectively made redundant with a real rift between those on the frontline and senior officers. A perception of constant unremitting criticism is contributing to a situation which could lead to a complete collapse of morale."

The survey noted a low response – just one in four of the Met's 53,710 employees took part, including hundreds of homicide, counter-terrorism and firearms officers – but said that this might be explained by a perception that no management action would result from the findings.