‘It’s getting worse and worse’: Dying Perth mother stuck in ED for 36 hours

A dying woman battling an infection and agonising radiation burns has been forced to wait 36 hours for a bed, some of those in a corridor, in another example of the overload on Western Australia’s health system.

Shar Christoff Harris, 37, mother to a young child, was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2023 and has documented her journey on Tiktok.

On the advice of her doctor, Harris presented to the emergency department at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital at 2.30pm on Thursday.

She posted about her stay in ED where she said the hospital did not have the pain medication she needed.

“I was in a lot of pain all night. I was in tears begging for an anaesthetic,” the former early childhood teacher said.

Harris claimed the nurses told her they knew the hospital’s inability to accommodate her was “was not good enough”.

“They did everything in their power to help me,” Harris said.

On Friday evening she posted a video after hospital staff were forced to park her at the end of a hallway and put up a makeshift curtain for privacy while they waited for a bed in a ward to become available.

“The infection is really bad, they are worried about sepsis and I’ve been waiting 36 hours to go from ED to a bed ward,” she said.

“I have terminal cancer and this is where I’m staying tonight ... at the end of the hallway outside with a very bad infection and radiation burns.”

Harris said hospitals needed more funding and staff but was quick to praise workers employed in less than ideal circumstances.

Shar Christoff Harris with her son.Credit: GoFundMe

“This is only getting worse and worse,” she said.

“The nurses here I cannot fault them, they are incredible, hardworking, amazing people.”

A North Metropolitan Health Service spokeswoman said the patient received prompt attention and was based in treatment bays within the emergency department where she received appropriate care.

“There was a brief period where she was put into a private area on the ward whilst waiting for a room to be cleaned,” she said.

AMA WA president Michael Page said hospitals were continually running at more than 100 per cent capacity.

“If your wards are full, it means you’ve got patients backed up in the emergency department and backed up in makeshift hospital rooms as reported in this case,” he said.

“Then that leads to ambulance ramping, which is at record numbers.”

Page said doctors were witnessing cases of patients waiting in makeshift beds almost every day.

“Doctors, nurses and other health workers in hospitals are doing their absolute best to provide the most dignified and clinically appropriate care, but it’s under very difficult circumstances, resources are stretched,” he said.

A Perth cancer patient says hospitals need more funding and staff. Credit: Luis Ascui

“There are some good ideas that I presume the new minister will continue with in terms of hospital avoidance strategies to try to take pressure off the EDs, but at the end of the day, this is not about building bigger and newer emergency departments.

“This is about building more hospital beds and training more health workers locally so that we can provide the level of care that we want to.”

WAtoday contacted ministerial newcomer Meredith Hammat who was tasked with overseeing the operational aspects of WA Health in a major cabinet reshuffle following Labor’s win in the 2025 state election.

A state government spokeswoman responded instead and said all patients deserved access to quality healthcare and the government was continuing to invest in and build world-class health infrastructure.

“We have invested $14.3 billion into health and mental health since 2021, including 800 new hospital beds with a further 600 beds in the pipeline,” she said.

“WA’s healthcare workforce has also grown by 30 per cent, which includes more than 4000 new nurses and 1800 new doctors.”

Find Shar Christoff Harris’ GoFundMe page here.

Start the day with a summary of the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter.