AXA Health's hospital list is its Directory of Hospitals, a PDF on AXA's website whose current edition is dated October 2026 and is split into eleven areas, Greater London first. Most people looking for it want one of two things: to see whether a hospital they would use is on it, or to know what happens if it is not. The answer to the second decides whether a hospital bill is paid in full or mostly left with you. Buying with one particular hospital in mind? Put your number into the enquiry box and a broker will phone to check that hospital against the list on your quote, free of charge.

Where the AXA Health hospital list lives online, and what it contains

AXA's hospitals page at axahealth.co.uk/hospitals opens with "Here’s your hospital list. The list changes from time to time, so please always check with us before arranging treatment." It links to the October 2026 directory (print code PB127006b/10.26) and notes that the PDF "currently replaces the hospital search", so anyone looking for an interactive AXA hospital finder will, for now, find a document instead (page carries a © 2026 line; read 21 October 2026).

The directory describes itself as "a list of all the hospitals and other facilities that we’ve assessed and monitor on their quality, value and range of services", and adds: "For most of our plans and options, you’ll need to use a facility in this list." Each entry sits in a grid with columns for general and psychiatric care, MRI, CT and PET scans, and oral and cataract surgery, so being on the list and being on it for your treatment are separate checks. It also warns that hospitals are occasionally removed, which makes a saved copy a snapshot rather than a promise.

The handbook for AXA's individual Personal Health membership (October 2024 on its cover) uses the same name and defines it as "the list of hospitals, day-patient units and scanning centres that are available for you to use under the terms of your plan" (page 40; we read a copy hosted by an intermediary on 4 September 2026, not AXA's own).

What being on the list changes: paid in full, or a small cash payment

The handbook's core cover table ties hospital fees to the list. They are "Paid in full so long as you use a hospital or day-patient unit in our Directory of Hospitals" (page 3), while the next row gives only a cash payment of "£50 a night for in-patient treatment" or "£50 a day for day-patient treatment" at a hospital that is not listed. Page 19 spells out what that means for the bill: without the Extended Cover Option, at an unlisted hospital, day-patient unit or scanning centre, "we will not pay for your treatment. We will only pay a small cash payment as shown in the Core Cover table when the treatment received would have been covered by your membership. You will need to pay the majority of the cost yourself. This could be a significant amount."

The same page describes the way out. With the Extended Cover Option there is "extra cover for treatment at hospitals, day-patient units and scanning centres that are not in our Directory of Hospitals", and, as long as the treatment itself is covered, payment for it "at any hospital, day-patient unit, out-patient facility or scanning centre in the UK". The option's own table on page 7 sets the ceiling: "Paid in full up to the normal daily rates published and charged by the facility". That is a limit worth asking about.

Two things follow for a buyer. The option is chosen, so the question for a quote is whether it is on the policy being priced; an option nobody ticked is not there at claim time. And in general terms, a wider-choice option usually pushes a premium up and leaving it out generally brings it down, which is why a cheap quote and a quote that reaches your hospital are not always the same quote. If you have a hospital in mind, ask the broker to price your cover with and without the Extended Cover Option so the difference is in front of you in pounds rather than guessed at.

Scans, cataracts and out-patient care have their own rules

Three kinds of treatment get separate wording in the handbook, and each refers back to the list or to AXA's agreement with a facility.

  • Scans. Large scans (CT, MRI, PET) need a specialist's referral and are paid in full only at a listed scanning centre. The clauses are quoted on the scans and diagnostics page.
  • Cataract surgery. Payment is for treatment "at any facility where we have an agreement covering cataract surgery. These are shown in our Directory of Hospitals." If your GP or optician says you need the surgery, you contact AXA to find the facility (page 19). In the directory these are the entries ticked in the cataract column; oral surgery works the same way.
  • Out-patient care. Payment depends on the facility being "recognised by us to provide out-patient services", with a request to "always check with us beforehand to make sure the facility you want to go to is recognised" (page 19). The out-patient cover itself depends on whether you have an Out-Patient Option.

The pattern is the same each time: the place is part of the cover, so the check is made before the appointment, not after the invoice. The general case for doing it before you buy is on the hospital list page that compares several insurers.

Open referral and the AXA Guided option: who chooses the specialist

People who search for an AXA Health open referral or guided option are asking who picks the specialist, and AXA's own pages answer both. The hospitals page puts it in two lines: "If you have the Guided option: we’ll source you specialists. You’ll need to use a specialist we’ve sourced for us to cover your treatment." Members on a different option "may be able to choose any on the list, depending on what’s wrong and the cover you have."

AXA's leaflet Choosing a specialist – explained (no printed date; read on axahealth.co.uk on 21 October 2026) treats a Foundation option the same way as Guided and is blunt about going elsewhere: "Your membership only covers specialists that we source for you. If you use a different specialist, you may have to pay for the full cost of treatment yourself, or pay towards it." It says the specialist will usually be "within 20 miles (within 5 miles if you live in London). This will depend on your condition", that they "might not work at your nearest hospital", and that depending on the plan you may need to use a particular hospital. To find out whether you have it, the leaflet points to your membership certificate, where Guided or Foundation may appear.

Either way the route starts with an open referral, which the Personal Health handbook explains as one where "your GP doesn’t name a particular specialist but instead gives you the type of specialist you need to see, for example a cardiologist" (page 10). A guided route usually costs less than free choice, as a general rule rather than an AXA figure; whether that trade suits you is something a broker can set out on a free call-back by pricing both. The wider referral process is on the GP referral page, and one rival's version is on the Bupa guided care page.

London hospitals on AXA's list, and which list a quote uses

Greater London is Area 1 of the October 2026 directory and runs to nine pages, sorted by postcode. It includes, among many others, the Wellington Hospital, the Hospital of St John and St Elizabeth, the London Clinic, the Cromwell Hospital, the Princess Grace Hospital, the Lister Hospital and the London Independent Hospital. Each row's ticks show what AXA uses that site for, so check the column for your treatment as well as the name.

The public directory is one document for all members, and it does not show which of its hospitals a given personal or business price is built on. If a particular London hospital matters to you, ask the broker who phones after you send the form to confirm it is on your plan's list before you buy; the call costs nothing. On AXA's site the personal product is now sold as the AXA Health Plan, which AXA describes as giving "fast access to a network of clinical specialists and over 250 hospitals across the UK" (axahealth.co.uk, © 2026, read 21 October 2026); the page on AXA's types of policy covers the plan names people search for.

Questions to settle before you buy

  • Which list is the price built on, and can I see it, with the date it was produced?
  • Are the two or three hospitals, clinics and scanning centres I would use on it, by name and site, with a tick for my kind of treatment?
  • Does the quote include the Extended Cover Option or an equivalent, and what does it pay at a hospital that is off the list?
  • Is the quote on the Guided or Foundation option, and what would the price be without it?
  • What is the excess, and how does it interact with a hospital stay? See what a health insurance excess is.

A broker can put those to AXA and to other insurers in one conversation. If you would rather start with the process of getting a figure, the AXA quote page sets out what to have ready, and the shorter route is to send the enquiry form here, after which a broker phones you at no cost to talk it through.

Short answers on AXA Health hospital lists

Is there an AXA Health hospital finder online?

For now the online version is the October 2026 PDF linked from axahealth.co.uk/hospitals, which AXA says "currently replaces the hospital search". The 2024 handbook prints an older address, axappphealthcare.co.uk/hospitals, so use AXA's current site or your own policy documents rather than a saved link.

How many hospitals are on AXA's list?

AXA's page for its AXA Health Plan says "over 250 hospitals across the UK". The directory also lists scanning centres and clinics, so it is longer than the hospital count suggests.

Is the AXA business health hospital list the same list?

The Personal Health handbook quoted here is for individual membership, and a company scheme runs on its own documents, so the hospitals it uses come from the scheme's schedule held by the employer or whoever arranged the cover. The directory says members need a facility on it for "most of our plans and options", so which plan a scheme is on matters. The market-wide picture for group cover is on the group hospital list page.