Public Health and Healthcare Management Consultancy

Steve Penfold MA FRSPH FCMI is mtwenty's Director of Public Health and International Development. He is a UK-based public health specialist, with a 30 year track record of successfully developing programmes at local, regional and national level in the UK, and at national level in Afghanistan, Cambodia, Jordan, Haiti, and Kyrgyzstan.  

After 14 years in the NHS, including a five-year secondment at the Department of Health (inc. as Deputy Head of Sexual Health and HIV for England), he transitioned to NGO roles in Cambodia as National Programme Director, followed by two years as an NGO Chief Executive Officer managing teams of up to 120 staff and £25m contracts. Since 2016, he has been a UK-based consultant for commissioners in low- and middle-income countries and the UK, designing £5m to £160m public health programmes. 

His consultancies began in 2013 working on consecutive assignments for the the World Health Organisation and then PEPFAR. Since 2016 he has assisted USAID on multiple Global Health projects (2016-2025), and latterly Steve's focus has returned to Public Health in the UK. 

Thematic areas covered include:

• Global Health Protection/Pandemic preparedness
• Health Systems Strengthening 
• HIV Planning and Program Development
• Sexual, Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn and Child Health
• Services for Survivors of Gender Based Violence
• Short-term technical assistance and capacity building

Specific achievements during his consultancies include:

Public health emergency planning

• In late 2025, mtwenty was commissioned to develop a comprehensive Multi-Agency Pandemic Preparedness Plan for Cumbria, and a Lessons Learned summary from the COVID-pandemic, incorporating insights from the recent Exercise Pegasus.
• Steve led the United States Agency for International Development’s (USAID) COVID analysis in Jordan, and on occasion advised the Minister of Health. His analysis correctly identified when a wave had peaked, which helped the Ministry of Health with planning for hospital inpatient peaks, typically two weeks later. 

Pandemic preparedness and response frameworks

• In July 2023, WHO had just conducted a formal Joint External Evaluation (JEE) of pandemic preparedness in Kyrgyzstan, based on the International Health Regulations. Steve led the multi-agency analysis of the findings of the JEE. He used this experience to then assist USAID/Haiti with their pandemic preparedness planning. 

Working with multi-agency systems

• Between 2006 – 2011 Steve led over 60 multi-agency assessments, developing support plans with local authorities on issues such as teenage pregnancy, and with police forces, the NHS, other statutory bodies and the voluntary sector on the development of new Sexual Assault Referral Centres across England.

Proven ability to produce high-quality, strategic documents.

• Steve has extensive experience in producing high quality strategic documents. At the Department of Health, he commissioned, developed and edited “10 High Impact Changes for Genitourinary Medicine 48-hour Access”, which helped England achieve a maximum 48-hour waiting time. 
• In Afghanistan, he designed a new £160m maternal and child health programme, which included sufficient flexibility that large parts continued after the Taliban takeover in 2021.

Experience of participating in or facilitating multi-agency exercises.

• In July 2024 Haiti experienced an anthrax outbreak that resulted in two human deaths and 37 suspected cases. Steve led the collaboration and coordination for an international, multi-agency response, which contained the epidemic, evidenced by zero cases reported for five consecutive weeks. 
• Prior to his international consultancies, Steve had five years’ experience of facilitating multi-agency meetings with NHS, local authority, police forces and third sector partners through two National Support Teams. 

He is a Fellow of the Royal Society for Public Health (FRSPH), a Fellow of the Chartered Management Institute (FCMI) and actively participates in the Faculty of Public Health's Special Interest Groups on both the Sexual Health and Pandemic Preparedness. 

In 2013 he was awarded the Royal Order of Sahametrei medal of honour for services to HIV Prevention, Care and Treatment by the Government of Cambodia.