A Letter From the Founders: Charlie and Dr Ramu Nachiappan (GP)
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It always starts with a private, nervous question.
A new ache, a persistent cough, a feeling that’s just… off. A question we ask ourselves in the middle of the day or late at night: Is this normal?
For generations, the answer to that question began with a call to someone who knew you: your regular family doctor. But for millions of Australians, that single, trusted guide is now out of reach; too expensive, waiting lists closed, and not available when you need them.
We’ve been left medically adrift in an unsettling new reality. You’re forced to start from scratch each time with a clinician who feels more like a stranger, hoping they can grasp your story in a few short minutes at a walk-in clinic or a transactional telehealth call.
We’ve each felt the weight of that reality.
And it’s why we came together.
Charlie Veitch
"I navigated this reality with my father as he lived with a complex health condition, cancer, in rural Australia. I saw firsthand the vulnerability of not being able to access our regular doctor in my dad’s moment of need.
Between appointments, we didn’t know what was normal and what was severe. There was the constant anxiety of trying to explain to various clinicians what we were dealing with so they understood the full picture. They didn’t.
I was left questioning:
Why was dad's healthcare experience so disconnected?
Why was so much information missed by those who made the decisions on his health?"
Dr Ramu Nachiappan (GP)
"And from the other side of the desk, I saw the clinical consequence of this fragmentation. For thirty-five years as a GP in Broken Hill, NSW, my deepest desire has always been to provide continuous, thoughtful care, but that's difficult to achieve without knowing the patient's history.
I’d regularly see new patients and think, "There has to be more to this story; something just doesn’t add up." To leave a patient with more questions than answers feels like a failure.
The core of medicine is a caring, trusting relationship. I saw patients feeling lost and my colleagues feeling powerless to provide the care they knew was needed. That isn't just inefficient; it's a profoundly unsettling way to practice medicine."
Callum Clarke
"I am also from rural Victoria and am familiar with barriers like access to care. I have also built Australia’s largest online psychology clinic and was stunned at how many of our patients didn’t have a regular GP to get their mental healthcare plan renewed.
I am a big believer in technology and its purpose to solve human problems. The challenge is not a lack of caring doctors; it was a logic problem born from a straining healthcare model."
A Doctor-Led Framework for the Next Generation of Care
Our Commitment
This is the future we are building—one designed to restore what we've lost: access to a medical professional who knows you, when you need them. It's a future where technology works silently in the background to bring back care that truly understands you. A future where every healthcare journey is guided by intelligence, a beautiful user experience that offers clarity, and above all, care.
We started Abby Health to bring back the peace of mind that comes from being known. We’re here to listen. And we’re here to help guide you back to health.
We have a lot of work to do.
With care,
Charlie & Ramu
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