The worries of people in pharmacy jobs regarding the decommissioning by primary care trusts (PCTs) have been recognised by Earl Howe.
According to the parliamentary under-secretary of state at the Department of Health, the skills and benefits of pharmacists are now "embedded" in the NHS and their questions about the transition to the new health service model, reported Chemist + Druggist.
The peer spoke at meeting of the all-party pharmacy group and suggested increased certainty would be achieved in the pharmacy sector with the introduction of a national board.
"There is concern over transition. I share these concerns," said Earl Howe.
"We will remind PCTs of the importance of maintaining services - including enhanced services - in planning for 2011."
Earl Howe received his peerage in 1984 and is involved with several charitable organisations, including the South Bucks Association for the Disabled, the National Society for Epilepsy and the Chiltern Society.