After two world wars, there were a number of hospitals that had been built to take casualties, and many of these were repurposed to take TB patients. They were mostly single-story buildings and many were out in the countryside, so ideal for the purpose.
In the early 1960’s I had a minor operation, which would be day surgery these days. I was sent to a former TB hospital in North London. This was a sprawling, rather dilapidated, single-story building, set in huge grounds. It was hard to believe that we were still in London.
It was a beautifully sunny week and I was admitted on Monday and operated on on Tuesday. I then had until Friday to recuperate. We found a store of deck chairs and tables and set them up on the lawn.
There was no cost to me, and my employer paid me while I was off work. They could recover some of that from the government.
Long term absences were different and most employers stopped paying wages after some set period. When that ran out, it was possible to claim direct from the government, although it was much reduced if you were in hospital (not unreasonable since your expenses would be reduced)