Although the workhouses were not great they were not exactly as you say. In my family research i have found several relatives who were born lived or died in one. They were the closest thing many had to medical facilities. The idea was to make them a home for the destitute but not be so comfortable people wanted to stay.

You also had to go to the town of your birth to be accepted in one.

A hospital in my town in north London until recently had buildings that were originally from the workhouse it started out as