Stu McPherson and his fiancée Karee Oates at Lake Tekapo in January 2021, just six months before his unexpected death.
Soon-to-be new dad Stu McPherson died in his sleep after being discharged from a private Auckland hospital where he underwent routine shoulder surgery. The tragedy has raised questions for his partner about why alcohol was prescribed to him following his operation.
A 47-year-old TV producer who died two days after routine surgery was prescribed alcohol, which his fiancée claims was “far out of touch with best practice”.
Allevia Hospitals - previously Mercy Ascot - has confirmed it has changed its alcohol policy partly as a result of its investigation into Stu McPherson‘s death in June 2021.
Mercy Ascot had a liquor licence up until early 2020 - where appropriate, patients were offered a glass of wine or beer with their meals.
“Since then, alcohol has only been available to patients when medically required and prescribed on their inpatient medication chart,” a spokeswoman said.
“This is consistent with Allevia’s commitment to continuous improvement, including the regular review and updating of policies and procedures.”
McPherson’s fiancée Karee Oates claims the hospital allowed the prescription of alcohol ”for social reasons" and then “tried to bully me into saying Stu was an alcoholic when they were doing their review”.
The hospital has not responded to the bullying assertion directly but has said it has not found any “significant failures” in the care of McPherson and does not believe it is at fault for his death. It has expressed its sorrow to Oates for McPherson’s death.
In its serious investigation review, the hospital listed an “incident” with McPherson taking non-prescribed alcohol following his surgery.
Oates said McPherson did not want the red wine prescribed at Mercy Ascot - she brought in a higher-quality bottle for him.
“There were some concerns raised about alcohol consumption and taking non-prescribed drugs whilst an inpatient,” says the hospital’s serious investigation report into McPherson’s care.
“A conversation was had by the nursing team with the patient about alcohol and non-prescribed and prescribed drug use.”
A coroner’s report into McPherson’s death states that the surgeon “discussed the importance of not drinking alcohol in relation to the major medication he was going to be sent home with and Stuart was cognisant of this and replied that he understood this”.
The anaesthetist, reported the coroner, “was agreeable to him having a glass of red wine during the post-operative period in hospital”.
The coroner said low levels of alcohol were detected in the post-mortem examination, “approximately the equivalent of one standard drink”.
Oates believes alcohol should not have been prescribed and says while it did not play a part in McPherson’s death, the hospital’s policy was the “canary in the coalmine” when it came to its processes.
Allevia confirmed its alcohol policy had changed, in part, as a result of its investigation into McPherson’s death.
“We use every serious or sentinel event as an opportunity to review and, where appropriate, improve our policies and procedures. This reflects our commitment to continuous improvement,” said an Allevia Hospitals spokeswoman.
In August 2023, its medicines management policy was updated to address opioid-induced ventilatory impairment, “identifying alcohol as a relevant risk factor”.
“As a result, discharge documents for opioid-naive patients discharged on slow-release opioids now include a reminder to limit alcohol consumption.”
In September 2023, “following significant consultation”, Allevia said its anaesthetic advisory group and clinical excellence committee further updated the policy.
These updates included:
DISCLAIMER: Stu McPherson worked for a period as a freelance video producer for NZME.
Editor-at-Large Shayne Currie is one of New Zealand’s most experienced senior journalists and media leaders. He has held executive and senior editorial roles at NZME including Managing Editor, NZ Herald Editor and Herald on Sunday Editor.