Later, she was invited to share her insights on a range of brochures being distributed by the hospital covering everything from from broken bones, anaesthesia, bereavement and breastfeeding.

It was the start of a journey that would lead Ms Ogulin to become part of the Consumer and Community Engagement Council - a group of volunteers working to ensure patients remain at the centre of their own care and the health system more broadly.

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Since its inception in 2014, the council has been at the heart of some of the bigger, and more subtle changes within the LGH and Tasmanian Health Service North.

This includes the creation of a pedestrian crossing on Charles Street, the hospital's food services recycling of food waste program, the redesign of children's ward 4k, and most recently the LGH Masterplan.

With about a dozen members - all from a diverse range of backgrounds - Ms Ogulin said the role of the council was to give patients a platform to ensure their voice was being heard.

"As an individual, you know the most about yourself. So, if you are in hospital, it's about ensuring you're taken seriously," she said.

"It takes time and I think people are still in that older-school thought of the doctor knows best. But patient-centred care isn't about the doctor knowing best - rather it's the patient that knows best.

"Hopefully that will change with the work we are doing over time. It's about giving people a voice and a platform to advocate for change."

The CCEC remains the peak body for all THS Northern hospitals and health services, and through numerous committees and projects has become embedded within the administrative and operational structures of the LGH and all district hospitals in the North.

With regular meetings with hospital clinicians, THS executives and government, it works to provide a consumer perspective on health care.

Most recently, CCEC chairman Peter O'Sullivan OAM stood alongside Health Minister Jeremy Rockliff at the launch of the LGH masterplan.

With two CCEC members sitting on the Northern Reference Group created to inform the hospital's redevelopment, Mr O'Sullivan said the masterplan was a great example of consumer engagement helping to inform decisions.

"There is a movement right across healthcare to include patients in their care. In my parents' day, they went to the doctor and they never asked questions. The doctor was someone who was up there on a pedestal," he said.

"Nowadays, health clinicians realise that the more information they can give someone when they present in the ED, the more we can find out about what's actually wrong with them and what they need.

"If we look at something like the LGH masterplan, right from the beginning we had consumers sitting alongside senior clinicians, health department heads and later - even the architects.

"Whether we all get what we want in the end is another question ... it's been made clear all along that we may not. But at least they have the chance to have their say."

Mr O'Sullivan said at the last count, the CCEC were on about 24 committees throughout the hospital.

Established to advise on the second standard - partnering with consumers - under the National Safety and Quality Health Service Standards, its members report directly to the THS executive director.

While operating in partnership with the THS, the council remains independent of it and are responsible for appointing their own members.

Primary Health North's nursing director Fiona Young, who has also filled acting roles as the chief executive of hospitals for the North and North-West, said CCEC members remained highly respected across all departments, services and health programs.

"The CCEC has established strong links with our health system and presents an opportunity for people in the community to actively participate in the future direction of health services," she said.

"In time past THS-North staff did not always recognise the importance of partnering with consumers, but it is now recognised that this partnership is essential to person-centred care.

"Our CCEC members contribute countless hours to participate in meetings, complaint reviews, policy development, working groups, safety event reviews, quality standards meetings, service planning and design."

At one point or another, CCEC members have also been patients at the hospital themselves.

For Ms Ogulin, sitting on the council provides an opportunity to bridge the gap she said sometimes forms between community expectations, and the realities of operating a hospital.

After spending a night in the children's ward with her six-month-old son, she was able to use her experience to advocate for changes she said helped inform the redesign of Ward 4K.

"We were in a four-bed ward, so every time someone came in at night my baby would wake up screaming," she explained.

"The bathrooms were right down the other end of the ward, so I had to leave him alone if I needed the toilet.

"When they were developing the new children's ward, I provided my feedback ... even elements like the importance of natural light and bright colours.

"They probably would have thought about all of that, but it's really important I had a chance to put those comments forward.

"I went for a tour of the new children's ward last year and it's all of those things now. Now they have rooms that are only two people, with an ensuite. That's a massive win in my opinion and it speaks to the power of the consumer."

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