If you were looking for a tasty meal, using fresh produce and local ingredients, chances are one of the last places you might expect to find such a culinary treat is in a hospital.

Hospital food has, rightly or wrongly, been a sensitive subject for decades – but if you are a patient at Shepton Mallet Community Hospital you can look forward to some of the best hospital food in the country, thanks to an arrangement between Somerset Partnership NHS Foundation Trust and Shepton Mallet NHS Treatment Centre.

The catering team at Shepton Mallet NHS Treatment Centre are now providing their award-winning meals to patients at Shepton Mallet Community Hospital.

The treatment centre was the first in the South West to achieve the coveted Gold Soil Association Food for Life Catering Mark when it received the award in September 2015.

At the time it was only the fourth hospital in the UK to gain this recognition and the hospital continues to hold the award. This year the award was renewed for the fifth year in a row.

The award recognises the hospital's determination to offer freshly cooked meals making use of fresh local ingredients in its café and to patients on the ward.

It provides more than 250 meals every day as well as drinks and snacks to visitors, team members working in the centre, patients and local people.

The Gold Mark means that all the meat used at Shepton Mallet NHS Treatment Centre is free range and achieves UK animal welfare standards.

All fish used is confirmed from sustainable sources as defined by the Marine Stewardship Council.

Dishes contain only free-range eggs, no undesirable additives or trans-fats, with information on display about where ingredients come from.

Many ingredients and food products are sourced locally from the Shepton Mallet area or the wider South West food and farming community.

It also means that at least 15 per cent of ingredients are organic, with the hospital using Riverford for meat, vegetables and milk supplies. All dishes are prepared from scratch.

Breakfast, lunch, evening meal and light bites are available, and the team cater for most dietary requirements.

Dishes include: herb crusted baked cod served with potatoes and vegetables; cauliflower and broccoli mornay served with potatoes; beef and horseradish risotto served with homemade herb bread; pineapple cake with custard; and peach flan.

There is a different menu for each day, and patients can opt to have larger or smaller than normal portions depending on their appetite. Both lunch and evening meal have three courses.

The new regime is already going down a treat at Shepton Mallet Community Hospital, with patients and staff saying that the meals available are the tastiest they have ever had in a NHS hospital.

Kevin Wollaston is head chef at Shepton Mallet NHS Treatment Centre and has overseen the addition of Shepton Mallet Community Hospital patients to his "customers".

He said: "We are delighted that our food has been so well received by patients at the hospital across the road.

"People in for treatment should have access to tasty, nutritious and well-presented meals – they are good for their physical and psychological recovery."