Derrick Tovey | |
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| Born | Lucas Alfred Derrick Tovey 1926 Bristol, England |
| Died | 16 November 2015 (aged 88–89) |
| Nationality | British |
| Education | University of Bristol |
| Occupation | Pathologist |
| Known for |
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| Medical career | |
| Profession | Physician |
| Institutions | |
| Sub-specialties | Haematology |
Lucas Alfred Derrick Tovey FRCPath, FRCOG (1926 – 16 November 2015), was a British pathologist who shortly after being appointed consultant at St Luke's Hospital in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, recognised the first cases of smallpox in the early days of the Bradford smallpox outbreak of 1962. Over the subsequent three days a further eight cases of smallpox were detected and Tovey subsequently became in charge of infection control at St Luke's and given the responsibility of liaising with the medical officers of health and the press. He later attributed the successful containment of the outbreak to effective contact tracing, surveillance and vaccination.
From 1966 to 1988 he was director of the Yorkshire Region Transfusion Centre, and from 1980 to 1988 he was chairman of the anti-D working party Department of Health and Social Security. His contributions led to the routine use of Anti-D to prevent RhD isoimmunization in mothers who are RhD negative in the UK. His data from the Yorkshire Regional Transfusion Centre showed that by introducing anti-D prophylaxis, the number of deaths in newborns due to Rh disease dropped from 66 in 1970 to one by 1989.