Alberta Health Minister Gene Zwozdesky said the full report into errors at the Alberta Children's Hospital should be available to the public within 10 days. (CBC)

Alberta's health minister has directed the province's health agency to release a full report on medical errors at Calgary's children's hospital within 10 days.

A review of four patient-care mistakes, including two non-lethal drug overdoses, found that poor communication and improper use of equipment led to the mistakes last year at the Alberta Children's Hospital.

On Tuesday, Alberta Health Services released the results of the review in a two-page summary. The agency refused to distribute the full 58-page report, citing privacy concerns — even though the report's author said it was designed for public release.

Dr. John Cowell, CEO of the Health Quality Council of Alberta, said the report was written so that no patient or staff member can be identified.

"As detailed a report as we can publish, we should be doing it," he said.

'Whether something embarrasses Alberta Health Services is not a legitimate exception under the Health Information Act.'— Rick Klumpenhouwer, privacy expert

However, the hospital's interim vice-president disagreed. "Some details of the full review of the incidents are confidential and legislation requires that they remain so," Margaret Fullerton said Tuesday.

One day later, Alberta Health Minister Gene Zwozdesky announced he has contacted the health superboard and the Health Quality Council.

"I've spoken with both of these parties. I've asked them to go through this issue very thoroughly. They are doing that as we speak and in less than 10 days, they will have the full report issued to the public as requested by me," Zwozdesky told the legislature.

Rick Klumpenhouwer, a privacy expert who used to work with the former Calgary Health Region, said the rapid turnaround suggests suppressing the full report wasn't so much about confidentiality as it was a communications strategy.

"Whether something embarrasses Alberta Health Services is not a legitimate exception under the Health Information Act," he told CBC News.

Officials with the Alberta Children's Hospital said they have already apologized to each of the families involved in the medical mistakes, and have started implementing steps to prevent them from recurring.