England's NHS App is going to get some major upgrades over the next two years, according to new announcements from the government, including the eventual addition of video consultations within the app, in England at least.

Apparently the government is aiming for 75 per cent of people to be using the app by March 2024, up from less than 50 per cent that presently have it installed on their smartphone.

The first major milestone that's being targetted is in March 2023, when the govermnent wants the app to let people book vaccines directly, get health alerts about prescriptions and more, get more messages through from their GPs, make and manage hospital appointments and access their digital records.

A year later, in March 2024, the app should apparently be able to offer face-to-face video consultations that you can book, a major upgrade compared to its current capabilities.

This announcement comes as a statement about the direction of travel for the app, rather than anything you can hang specific dates on beyond those two annual targets, so we don't know when each feature might arrive.

It will also depend in many cases on the ability of individual GP surgeries and hospitals to adapt to the changes, rather than simply rolling out across the country overnight when the feature is ready.