How the scandal unfolded, principal characters and detailed timeline of The Courier’s explosive in-depth investigation

• December 2016 to March 2019 – Around 200 breast cancer patients are given lower doses of chemotherapy by NHS Tayside doctors. Fourteen die during this period.

• January to April 2017 – Dr Adrian Harnett is recruited by NHS Tayside for an internal review after a whistleblower raises concerns. The review is favourable to the oncologists and later leads Dr Harnett to sign a letter in their defence.

• May 2017 – NHS Tayside contacts Healthcare Improvement Scotland (His) after the whistleblower remains dissatisfied following internal reviews.

• November 2018 – The Royal College of Radiologists nominates Dr Harnett to be the clinical oncologist panel member for a separate Royal College of Physicians (RCP) invited service review.

• April 2019 – His releases its report and the findings are fully accepted by NHS Tayside and the Scottish Government. The oncologists say they have been “thrown under the bus” by the handling of the revelations and brand it “factually inaccurate” in a response later obtained by The Courier.

• The Scottish Government and chief medical officer are made aware of Dr Harnett’s conflict of interest. The RCP is also told but states it has incomplete information so the review goes ahead anyway.

• June 2019 – The RCP receives further details of Dr Harnett’s potential conflict of interest. A complaint is also made to the General Medical Council (GMC).

• July 2019 – An independent review to fully consider the His findings sets out 19 recommendations, one of which states patients should be explicitly warned about the risks of variation in their care from generally accepted guidelines.

• The GMC considers there is no conflict of interest in Dr Harnett’s involvement in the invited service review and closes its case.

• October 2019 – The Courier reports the long-awaited invited service review will never be published due to the conflict of interest. Three days later, we publish early details of the review, including calls for psychological support for staff left distressed by the revelations.

• The Courier learns the GMC is investigating NHS Tayside’s medical director, Professor Peter Stonebridge, his deputy, Professor Colin Fleming, and four members of the oncology team.

• January 2020 – The RCP writes to Dr Harnett stating a serious disciplinary offence

occurred due to his failure to declare a conflict of interest in advance of the invited service review visit. The complaint allegation is upheld and he is ordered to pay back his fee for the review. This prompts the GMC to reopen and “promote” the case.

• June 2020 – The GMC puts a range of allegations to Dr Harnett, including that his conduct had been dishonest when signing a declaration on the invited service review conflict of interest form.

• July 2020 – Dr Harnett writes to the GMC to state his recollection of events. Two days later he applies for voluntary erasure from the medical register, citing “retirement”.

• March 2021 – NHS Tayside chief executive Grant Archibald tells MSPS on Holyrood’s public audit committee he is unable to make long-term promises about cancer care in the region following the departure of several individuals from the health board’s oncology team.

• November 2021 – Ex-board member and retired consultant anaesthetist Dr Crawford Reid calls for the mass resignation of health chiefs in the region as he warned “people will die” as a result of badly mismanaged breast cancer services.

• December 2021 – We reveal Dr Norman Pratt, a nonexecutive member of the health board, accused bosses of being “complicit in the cover-up of a major clinical service scandal”. He says he was threatened with disciplinary action after speaking out.

• The following day, the coconveners of the Scottish Parliament’s cross-party cancer group call for a public inquiry after we reveal documents highlighting a litany of warnings on the scandal were “overlooked” by health chiefs.