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 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.

[1] Following inspiration as a St John's Ambulance cadet when in his teens, he gained admission to the University of Bristol to study medicine and later took up an appointment as a blood transfusion officer at the Middlesex Hospital, London.

[2][3] After consulting a colleague and looking back through historical texts, he recognised the blood samples as compatible with that seen with smallpox, as reported by Kano Ikeda in 1925.

Tovey was subsequently put in charge of infection control at St Luke's and given the responsibility of liaising with the medical officers of health and the press.

In 1966 he was appointed director of the Yorkshire Region Transfusion Centre, where he remained until 1988, and from 1980 to 1988 he was chairman of the anti-D working party Department of Health and Social Security.