Pharmacists who start prescribing S4 medicines in Queensland or any other scope of practice pilot will not face higher premiums, according to the leading pharmacist indemnity insurer.

Despite doctors’ fears of misdiagnoses in the pilot, Guild Insurance — which is owned by the Pharmacy Guild of Australia — told AusDoc that it had analysed the risks and decided they did not justify additional fees.

While Guild Insurance would not provide its typical fees, pharmacists who join Pharmaceutical Defence Limited face indicative fees of $200-300 a year.

This included pharmacists participating in the Queensland pilot, who have started diagnosing and prescribing for 17 conditions, including shingles, obesity, impetigo and acute otitis media.