The Australian Medical Association (AMA) in Queensland says the expansion of a hangover clinic to the Sunshine Coast is a concerning acknowledgement of an entrenched drinking culture.

Max Petro, the co-owner of the Hangover Clinic which opened in Sydney a year ago, said the Sunshine Coast was earmarked as a potential new site based on demand expressed via social media.

"The Sunshine Coast was one of the ones where a lot of the residents have said 'when are you coming up?'," Mr Petro said.

The Hangover Clinic offers in-clinic and home treatments for hungover patients.

The treatments —which include intravenous fluid, anti-nauesea medication, anti-headache medicine, oxygen and oral vitamins — vary according to the severity of the hangover.

But the AMA's Queensland spokesman and Coolum GP, Dr Mason Stevenson, said to have the service on the Sunshine Coast warranted wider discussion.

"It concerns me only to the extent that it is an acknowledgment of the drinking culture that's entrenched even within the Sunshine Coast culture.

"Yes we do have far too many people drinking far too much alcohol resulting in far too many hangovers."

Answering the critics

Sydney hangover clinic sign ( ABC News: Penny Timms )

Mr Petro said the service was no stranger to criticism and a common complaint was that it encouraged binge or irresponsible drinking, which he rejected.

"We were very controversial before we even opened. They were saying we were going to be encouraging binge drinking, but we've seen no evidence of that.

"We encourage binge drinking as much as hospitals encourage people to get sick.

"We're here if you need us but we're not saying go out and get drunk because we'll look after you the next day."

"If someone was coming in every week we would sit down with them and say look 'you probably need help' but that hasn't happened."

The former lawyer and ski instructor said the idea came about after time on the ski fields in North America where intravenous solutions for hangovers was commonly administered by paramedics.

"I had a terrible hangover one day and knocked on the door and said 'guys can you hook me up I'm dying'?

"They put me on an IV drip, gave me oxygen, anti-nausea medication and I felt fine after about 15 or 20 minutes."

Mr Petro said it a Sunshine Coast location had not yet been confirmed but it was hoped it would open within the next couple of months.

A "Band-Aid solution"

A new year's reveller greets the new year slightly worse for wear in Brisbane's Fortitude Valley on January 1, 2008. ( Giulio Saggin: ABC News ) The founder and CEO of Hello Sunday Morning, the world's largest online movement challenging alcohol behaviour, said there was obviously a market for the service but it was not indicative of a culture gone bad.

Chris Raine said there was a growing movement in the number of people developing a healthier relationship with alcohol.

"Australia's drinking culture is statistically changing, we're actually improving as a country in the way that we drink.

"We're drinking less, the harms are still prevalent with people winding up in hospital but that culture is changing and on a whole that's really exciting.

"Young people today are drinking half as much as they were 10 years ago and the number of people under 18 who aren't drinking at all has significantly increased.

Mr Raine, originally from Queensland's Sunshine Coast, said the clinic was a "bandaid solution".

"If you really want to change the way you drink, having these measures where you go out and get really drunk and then require this intravenous help then I think there's something going on there that might need to be addressed or questioned.

"It's not a sustainable model. You can't go out and get hammered and then go to the hangover clinic … that's not the healthiest thing to do to your body.

"And if that question arises that this is something you want to change in your life, then come to Hello Sunday Morning," Mr Raine said.