WA pharmacists with additional training can now prescribe nitrofurantoin or trimethoprim for UTIs, state Minister for Health Amber-Jade Sanderson has announced.

Unlike NSW, the WA Government says the pharmacy prescribing program it launched on Friday is not a trial, but will undergo “a series of evaluations” to be decided by a working group.

The RACGP and AMA both say they “cannot endorse” the program.

“While the retail pharmacy pilots do not align with RACGP’s position, a registered clinical trial would be the least-bad approach for patients,” RACGP WA chair Dr Ramya Raman said.