Poll says 86% back health care

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AUSTRALIANS are desperate to see improvements in the health sector, with a call to implement national service standards and attract more doctors and nurses, one poll suggests.

Eighty-six per cent want national standards for the delivery of care for hospitals patients, according to the poll, which was commissioned by the ACTU.

Some 82 per cent said the government should improve pay for nurses and doctors to lure more of them to the sector.

Health remains a top issue for Australians, with a hefty 91 per cent rating it as very or extremely important in the survey.

Meanwhile, it also showed overwhelming support for the government's proposed health revolution to seize funding control of hospitals, with almost four out of every five Australians backing the plan.

"This poll shows Australians are concerned about the shift towards user pays in recent years and want more government funding so that all Australians have access to quality healthcare," ACTU secretary Jeff Lawrence said in a statement on Wednesday.

"They want the state and federal governments to fix up the duplication of responsibilities between them."

Almost half of the 1000 people surveyed said the quality of healthcare was getting worse, while 38 per cent said was staying the same.