All expenses for these visits were subsidized by the princess mother. If she happened to be on the trip with the medical team, she would help fill the prescriptions and provide advice to the sick. Those in critical condition would be sent to local hospitals. Later, she experimented with the system of radio consultation between doctors in the hospital and patients at health centres in remote areas, following the system used by the Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia. The project was well received, and within a few years the number of radio centres increased to 446 covering 25 provinces, with the centre of operations at Srapathum Palace. Over a million patients benefited from this service.