ACT Chief Minister and Minister for Health Katy Gallagher MLA said today the patient experience at the Canberra Hospital has improved with the introduction of two new computerised food 'service management systems'.

The MyMeal system, launched earlier this year, has provided the Food Services Department and Nutrition Services staff at the Canberra Hospital with the ability to create customised patient menus catering to a patient's specific dietary requirements.

The DIETpas ward-based system introduced a month ago, is a 'smart', real-time diet ordering application unique to the Health Directorate and will be fully rolled out by the end of the month.

"The DIETpas uses patient information directly from the ACT Patient Admission System. A patient order can then be completed in four mouse clicks - that's less time than a phone call from the ward to food services," the Chief Minister said.

"This timely use of the integrated patient diet ordering system ensures the patient receives the right dietary requirements, at the right location, at the right time."

The MyMeal system and the ongoing rollout of the integrated 'real-time' DIETpas system aim to make patients' stay in hospital more comfortable by improving the accuracy and timeliness of patient meal preferences.

"These new systems will streamline the tasks associated with food service delivery and make it easier to manage the transfer of patient meals when moved from ward to ward.

Meals orders are automatically cancelled when a patient leaves the hospital, saving staff time and stopping meals going to waste.

"A significant reduction in wasted meals will also be achieved because of the accurate information provided by DIETpas," the Chief Minister concluded.

The hospital's food services team currently supplies 3300 meals a day, with a daily nutrition target of 45mg vitamin C, 400ug folate, 100mg calcium, 8mg iron, 14mg zinc, and no more than 2,300mg sodium. Each year the hospital uses more than 70,000 loaves of bread, 157,500 litres of milk and 6,720 kg of apples.