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A report on Alberta's healthcare system concludes that patients wait too long in emergency rooms and doctors dare not advocate for patients if they want to keep their jobs.

The report also found that mortality rates for cancer patients are no different in Alberta than elsewhere in the country.

The Health Quality Council of Alberta found:

• University of Alberta Hospital Emergency Department physician concerns about patients waiting unacceptably long times for ED services in 2008, including waiting for a hospital bed, were justified. Patients' safety margins were compromised and many suffered. However, no deaths can be attributed to excessive wait times in the hospital.
• There have been widespread instances of physicians experiencing intimidation and muzzling when advocating for patients and evidence of a culture of fear and alienation across the province.
• The allegation that about 1,200 patients were on a waiting list for lung surgery in Edmonton is unfounded, as is the claim that 250 patients died while on a lung surgery waiting list. Mortality rates for Edmonton and Calgary were the same and comparable to national averages.

The report comes a year after CBC News first broke the story of Alberta Health Services punishing doctors by withholding hospital privileges and cancelling contracts for advocating on behalf of their patients.

Public, opposition pressured government

The Stelmach government called the investigation in face of growing public pressure about wait times and opposition claims in the legislature.

At the time, MLA Raj Sherman, now leader of the Alberta Liberal Party, claimed that 250 lung cancer patients died while waiting for surgery in the early part of the last decade.

On Wenesday the health council recommended Alberta Health Services' board of directors establish a 'just culture' and develop policies and education about physician advocacy.

The council also recommended a task force develop clear lines of authority in Alberta Health Services and that no further major restructuring in the health system be done without a clear plan allowing physicians to advocate.