Dr Michael Taylor, FDA spokesman, said some PCTs were already attempting to ‘federate’ all GPs ‘in a top down way’.

The FDA's appeal comes just a week after health secretary Andrew Lansley published the White Paper Liberating the NHS. The document sets outs a rapid timetable for the handover of commissioning from PCTs to GP consortia by 2013.

‘PCTs are in between a rock and a hard place,’ said Dr Taylor.

‘They have to organise this transition, and rapidly, but it must also be organised at the lowest level [by GPs].

‘They are using managerial resources to move GPs along the road. But that is not encouraging clinical leadership. They are trying to round us up.

 ‘What we are saying is come on, ease off a bit.’

The FDA is aware of GPs being approached in West Lancashire and Cumbria, although Dr Taylor said he would not name other PCTs where ‘the situation is more sensitive’.

The association is issuing a questionnaire to assess the scale and pace of the implementation nationwide.

Consultation on the reforms set out in the White Paper is not due to end until October.

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