METRO Charity Closure
METRO Charity, which has worked in partnership with Sexual Health Hertfordshire (SHH) to deliver the Education and Prevention Service, officially closed on Tuesday 31 March 2026.
From 1 April 2026, SHH will bring the Education and Prevention Service in-house. This will sit alongside a newly developed Clinical Outreach Team, which will continue to support awareness, risk reduction, and early intervention across the community.
SHH is working to keep disruption to an absolute minimum during this transition. Please note the following updates regarding service availability:
- STI Kits: These continue to be available via SH:24 and community settings, including community pharmacies, healthy hubs, and youth services.
- Condom Distribution: Measures are in place to provide additional condoms online for a limited period while the new SHH outreach services are fully embedded. Free condoms also remain available from various community settings, detailed at: Hertfordshire.gov.uk/freecondoms.
Required Actions for Pharmacy Teams
To ensure patients receive the correct support during this transition, we ask that you please take the following steps immediately:
- Stop Referrals to METRO: Please do not refer service users to the METRO website. Condom orders and dual-testing kit requests through their platform are no longer available.
- Remove Promotional Materials: Discard any leaflets, posters, or promotional items relating to METRO currently displayed in your pharmacy.
- Update Digital and Internal Resources: Remove any links to the METRO website from your own pharmacy websites, internal policies, or staff guidance documents.
(Note: SHH has requested that METRO redirect their website to SHH, but we do not yet have a confirmed timescale for when this will happen.)
Contact and Support
Please continue to direct all service users to Sexual Health Hertfordshire as the main provider of sexual health services in the county.
If your pharmacy team requires any further information regarding condom distribution, ordering testing kits, or staff training, please contact SHH directly at: CLCHT.chlamydiascreeningservice@nhs.net
Thank you for your cooperation and continued support in delivering vital sexual health services to our community.
