The mortuary at Yeovil District Hospital has received a good report following a visit from Somerset Community Health Council, although there were some concerns about the immediate surroundings.

The visit was made in April, and a report has now been made public.

According to the report, the mortuary receives the bodies of people who die in Yeovil District Hospital (about 700 a year) and bodies from the area generally served by the hospital requiring a post-mortem. About 450 post-mortems are carried out each year.

A waiting area for the bereaved and The Chapel of Rest were highly commended for their tasteful furnishing and decorations, with credit passed to the league of friends for refurbishing the area.

Council members were, however, somewhat concerned about the fact that the refrigerated storage area is only served by one unit - making the facility vulnerable in the case of a breakdown.

The actual post-mortem room itself was not fully inspected for operational reasons, but appeared to be clean and tidy.

Report author John Clotworthy wrote: "The mortuary itself is clearly well run, clean and tidy - and facilities for the bereaved are good."

But concerns about "the unsatisfactory location" were raised, with the report stating: "The mortuary is part of the original 1972 building, located on a level 2 service corridor leading to the hospital's main loading-unloading area.

"Bodies are brought to and collected from the mortuary by undertakers and ambulances via a ramp from this area. This area handles all bulky goods arriving or leaving the building, including clinical waste which is stored in bins there within a fixed cage.

"It is untidy, partly due to the building works. The area is controlled by the facilities department and is difficult to police. The approach to the ramp used by vehicles delivering/collecting bodies is exposed and may be seen from some of the rooms in the women's hospital."

East Somerset NHS Trust chief executive James Scott welcomed the report and said a feasibility study into how to best screen off the exposed area should be completed by the autumn.

Mr Scott also said that now the building works in A&E had been completed, the whole of the loading-unloading area was being tidied up.