General & Medical's hospital list comes in four hospital choices rather than one directory: Guided Care, First Choice, Freedom and Premium Hospitals, the last for an extra monthly payment. The choice made when you buy decides which hospitals you can use. Which of these choices reaches a particular hospital is quickest to settle with someone holding your quote. An FCA-authorised broker will look at the hospitals you have in mind when returning your call, free, if you ask via the form on this page.
The hospital choices General & Medical describes
General & Medical's hospital choices page opens by saying members have access to "over 1,000 of the best private hospitals and medical facilities throughout the UK". It then explains that the cost of treatment varies between facilities, so it has sorted them into groups. The page names four, and they work differently from one another:
| Choice | How General & Medical describes it |
|---|---|
| Guided Care | Described as its hospital option "as standard": General & Medical works with carefully selected hospital groups to negotiate rates, and picks "a selection of hospitals near you as options for treatment" |
| First Choice | A select group of private hospitals and clinics "throughout the UK, including London", with which it has close association |
| Freedom | All First Choice facilities plus additional ones, mainly NHS hospitals with private facilities attached, and most other London hospitals |
| Premium | Specialist facilities that, because of their reputation and location, charge substantially more; they can be included for an additional monthly payment |
(General & Medical, Private hospital choices, web page, undated; read 29 October 2026.)
Notice what kind of choice each one is. Guided Care is about who picks the hospital: General & Medical proposes the options near you, and how many it offers is something to ask. First Choice and Freedom are wider or narrower sets of hospitals, with Freedom containing the whole of First Choice. Premium is described in terms of adding it, for an extra monthly payment, rather than as a group in its own right. Which of the four a policy carries should be on its quote or schedule, so read that rather than guessing from the website.
General & Medical Freedom hospitals: what they add to First Choice
The Freedom description is one sentence: "Freedom hospitals include all First Choice facilities and give members access to additional facilities throughout the UK, which are mainly NHS hospitals with private facilities attached, plus most other London hospitals."
Two points follow from it. First, Freedom is a step up in reach, not a different network, since everything in First Choice sits inside it. Second, the additions are of two kinds. One is private wings of NHS hospitals, which matter if the nearest private hospital to you is a unit of that sort. The other is London, where the word "most" is doing work: "most other London hospitals" is not all of them, and the page does not name the London hospitals that are left out. Anyone who expects to be treated in central London should ask which of the capital's hospitals sit in the choice on the quote.
The same page says that Premium Hospitals, the costliest specialist facilities, are a separate monthly addition. What that add-on can mean for a renewal figure is covered on the page on General & Medical renewals.
First Choice: the hospital groups it names
The page says: "These include Spire Healthcare, Ramsay Healthcare, Circle Health Group and the majority of the Nuffield facilities." Read it closely. Three groups are named without qualification, but the page does not say that every hospital run by each of them is included, and for Nuffield it says outright that only the majority are. A hospital carrying a familiar group's name is therefore a reason to check, not proof that your policy reaches it.
The participating list as a whole, the page adds, "includes the majority of the leading national private hospital groups and the NHS private patient units". Whether "the majority" also governs the NHS units is not clear from the sentence, so treat a private patient unit near you as one to check. The same page says that at the majority of its participating hospitals an in-patient gets a single private room with en-suite facilities, so ask about the room as well as the hospital. Looking up the hospital itself is covered next.
Checking one hospital: the finder, and what to ask beside it
General & Medical points readers to an "interactive UK hospital finder" to see which facilities it has in their area, and a "Find A Hospital" link sits on its in-patient cover page. The finder is the closest thing to a hospital list on the website, and it is described as a way to see the facilities in your area. Whether a hospital it shows sits within the Guided Care, First Choice or Freedom choice on your own quote is the part to confirm, against the quote or schedule or with General & Medical.
A practical order for it:
- Write down the two or three hospitals you would realistically use, and the consultant's hospital if you already have one in mind.
- Look each up on the finder.
- Ask which hospital choice each one falls under, and whether the quote you are looking at includes that choice.
- Ask whether the answer changes if you add or drop Premium Hospitals.
A broker can raise the last two steps with General & Medical on your behalf, at no cost, when they ring.
How the choice meets a claim
General & Medical's claims page describes the sequence. You see your GP and, if a referral is advised, ask for it as an open referral letter, which is addressed to the type of specialist you need and not to a named one. You then submit a claim in your online area with the letter attached. The page adds a warning in plain terms: "if you attend any treatment prior to authorisation by us, this will be at your own financial risk." If the claim is approved, you receive an authorisation code that the treatment provider needs, and the invoices go to General & Medical, who contact you about any excess.
The claims page notes that "different policies offer varying benefits and limits, including access to different types of hospitals". What happens if you pick a hospital outside your choice, and whether anything is paid then, is for General & Medical to confirm, and the call that follows your form is a free chance to have it explained.
The practical lesson is the order of events: settle the hospital before the treatment starts, because the approval and the code come first and the invoice follows.
Why the choice affects the monthly payment
General & Medical says it groups hospitals by treatment cost so that it can lower premiums to reflect cheaper treatment at some of them. Its Benefits At A Glance summary (A-2016-B-V3.85, copyright 2026) lists Guided Care, First Choice, Freedom and Premium Hospital options as available "throughout the range", so the hospital choice is set separately from the Essentials, Everyday, Lifestyle or Elite plan, and it says of these options: "Premiums may increase or reduce, depending on the option chosen." In general, a narrower hospital choice usually brings the monthly payment down and a wider one usually pushes it up, though by how much on your policy only a quote can show. For the excess side of the trade, see what a health insurance excess is, and for the wider picture of cover, General & Medical health insurance reviewed.
How other insurers handle the same trade-off differs by company. AXA Health's hospital list and The Exeter's are laid out in their own terms, and the general guide to hospital lists explains why a cheaper quote so often has a shorter list.
Four things to settle about the hospital choice on a quote
- Does the choice reach the hospital I would actually use, and the one closest to home or work?
- With Guided Care, how many hospitals near me will I be offered, and can I ask for another?
- Can the choice be changed at renewal, and does that change the price?
- If my consultant works at a hospital outside the choice, what then?
Take those four into any conversation about a quote. After you use the form, you can ask the broker to set out how a different hospital choice would change the cover and the price, side by side.
Spire, NHS units, Guided Care and Premium: quick answers
Is Spire on General & Medical's list?
Its hospital choices page names Spire Healthcare among the First Choice hospitals. Freedom includes all of First Choice, but check the individual Spire hospital you plan to use against the finder.
Are NHS private patient units included?
The hospital choices page names NHS private patient units among its participating hospitals and describes Freedom's additions as mainly NHS hospitals with private facilities attached. Whether your nearest unit is in your own choice is worth confirming before you buy.
What does Guided Care mean for hospital choice?
General & Medical says it chooses a selection of hospitals near you as options for treatment, working with its participating hospitals. How many hospitals that selection runs to near you is a fair question to ask before you buy.
Can I add Premium Hospitals later?
The page says Premium Hospitals can be included for an additional monthly payment. Whether they can be added mid-policy is something a broker can ask General & Medical for you.