Pharmacist prescribing for UTIs has copped its most significant rebuke yet, with the Federal Government’s own safety commission warning it puts patients at risk and undermines the fight against antibiotic resistance.

The statement, written by the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care, comes as doctor groups fight the rollout of a Queensland pharmacist prescribing trail, which will see pharmacists provide the oral contraceptive pill as well as antibiotics for UTIs.