"As the new Chair of the General Practice Committee in England, I've been reflecting on why I became a GP in the first place. The privilege of building lasting relationships with patients, caring for generations and being part of the community. Yet we face extraordinary challenges. Our teams are delivering outstanding care under relentless pressure, often with too few clinicians, aging premises and resources that have not kept pace with demand. My focus is developing a strategy to improve the working lives of every GP. This requires a substantial increase in funding to the core contract. To achieve this, we may need to take further collective action but must also consider alternative options to support the future of our practices. I am honoured to accept this role and thank those before me who have steered GPC England through such challenging times. Together we can secure the future of general practice."