Condition Frameworks

Each Headland framework is designed by specialist NHS consultants and allied health professionals, built around the five core pillars of care, and tailored for delivery within your setting.

Our condition-specific frameworks are not generic guides — they are comprehensive clinical tools designed for the realities of care home delivery. Each one is built around evidence-based protocols, condition-appropriate monitoring tools, and staff guidance that translates clinical expertise into practical daily action. Browse our five current framework areas below.

Framework 01

Cancer

Cancer management in care settings requires careful attention to symptom control, medication compliance, and the monitoring of treatment side effects alongside residents' broader comfort and dignity. Our Cancer Care Framework equips care teams with structured protocols for pain management, nutritional support, fatigue monitoring, and advance care planning — aligned to NICE guidance and developed by NHS oncology consultants. Regular clinical review points are built into the framework to ensure care teams can identify and escalate changes in condition with the confidence and speed that good cancer care demands.

Key Focus Areas

  • Symptom monitoring
  • Advance care planning
  • Nutritional support
  • Pain management

Who does what

  • Dr Sheel Mehta, Founder, Clinical Director and Oncology Lead

    Leads the framework clinically. Sets the escalation triggers for care staff and checks the content against NICE guidance and the NHS ten-year cancer plan.

  • Clare Williamson, Cancer Nurse Specialist

    Turns the escalation triggers into daily observation checklists and a one-page guide to who to call at each stage of treatment. Runs staff sessions on spotting side effects and signs of infection.

  • Danielle Freeth, Psychotherapist and Psychological Lead (Cancer)

    Teaches staff to recognise anxiety, low mood and treatment fatigue, and guides conversations about prognosis and advance care planning. Supports residents to stay engaged with their appointments.

  • Charlotte Foster, Specialist Dietitian and Nutrition Lead

    Designs fortified menus and plans for appetite loss, taste change and nausea. Sets the weight-loss triggers that tell staff a resident is losing strength during treatment.

  • Kelly Thompson, Senior Physiotherapist

    Builds a gentle activity plan that protects strength and manages fatigue.

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Framework 02

Dementia

Dementia is the most prevalent condition in UK care settings, yet care delivery frequently lacks the structured, condition-specific approach that evidence shows improves quality of life and reduces distress. Our Dementia Care Framework is built around best-practice person-centred care principles, incorporating cognitive stimulation, behavioural support protocols, safe environments, and carer communication tools designed by specialist clinicians and psychologists. The framework supports staff in understanding dementia progression, adapting care approaches at each stage, and maintaining the dignity and meaningful engagement of every resident.

Key Focus Areas

  • Person-centred approach
  • Behavioural support
  • Cognitive stimulation
  • Family communication

Who does what

  • Dr Sheel Mehta, Founder, Clinical Director and Oncology Lead

    Holds clinical oversight. Signs off the delirium-versus-progression rule and the behavioural support guidance before they reach a home, and keeps the framework within social care scope: no diagnosis and no prescribing.

  • Danielle Freeth, Psychotherapist and Psychological Lead (Cancer)

    Shapes daily routine and engagement to sustain function. Writes behavioural support guidance for staff and families on distress.

  • Dr Arup Sen, Consultant Physician in Geriatric, Stroke, and General Internal Medicine

    Trains staff that sudden change may be delirium (infection, medication, dehydration) and not progression, so it is flagged early. Advises on falls, frailty and blood pressure.

  • Charlotte Foster, Specialist Dietitian and Nutrition Lead

    Designs eating and drinking support, including finger foods, the mealtime environment and hydration prompts, with weight monitoring.

  • Kelly Thompson, Senior Physiotherapist

    Sets mobility and falls-prevention plans, with activity doing double duty as engagement.

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Framework 03

Diabetes

Diabetes requires daily clinical vigilance — blood glucose monitoring, dietary management, medication review, and the early identification of complications including foot care, cardiovascular risk, and hypoglycaemia. Our Diabetes Care Framework provides care teams with standardised monitoring protocols, condition-specific dietary guidance, medication management checklists, and clear escalation pathways developed in collaboration with endocrinologists and diabetes specialist nurses. With structured daily routines and staff training built in, the framework ensures consistent, safe, and clinically sound diabetes management across your entire care team.

Key Focus Areas

  • Glucose monitoring
  • Dietary management
  • Foot care protocols
  • Escalation pathways

Who does what

  • Dr Sheel Mehta, Founder, Clinical Director and Oncology Lead

    Holds clinical oversight. Signs off the monitoring routine, the escalation pathway and the medication checklist.

  • Charlotte Foster, Specialist Dietitian and Nutrition Lead

    Designs meals and snacks that steady glucose, working with the home's chef.

  • Dr Arup Sen, Consultant Physician in Geriatric, Stroke, and General Internal Medicine

    Reviews the daily check routine, the hypo warning signs and the route to the GP. Reviews the medication checklist for safety without changing prescribing.

  • Danielle Freeth, Psychotherapist and Psychological Lead (Cancer)

    Guides staff on the psychological side of a lifelong condition, including fear of hypos, restriction fatigue and distress around meals and checks. Gives staff ways to handle a refused meal or check without conflict.

  • Kelly Thompson, Senior Physiotherapist

    Sets an activity plan that supports glucose control and flags mobility changes that affect foot care.

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Framework 04

Heart Disease

Cardiovascular conditions — including heart failure, coronary artery disease, and atrial fibrillation — are among the most complex long-term conditions managed within care settings, requiring close clinical monitoring and careful medication management. Our Heart Disease Care Framework provides care teams with daily monitoring protocols for fluid balance, weight, blood pressure, and medication compliance, alongside structured guidance for recognising and escalating signs of deterioration. Developed with cardiology consultants, the framework also incorporates activity and nutritional guidance to support cardiac health within the realistic capabilities of each resident.

Key Focus Areas

  • Fluid balance monitoring
  • Medication compliance
  • Deterioration recognition
  • Activity guidance

Who does what

  • Dr Sheel Mehta, Founder, Clinical Director and Oncology Lead

    Holds clinical oversight. Signs off the thresholds for reporting weight gain, breathlessness and swelling.

  • Charlotte Foster, Specialist Dietitian and Nutrition Lead

    Designs sodium-aware menus and fluid guidance.

  • Kelly Thompson, Senior Physiotherapist

    Sets a paced activity programme and a breathlessness monitoring routine, drawing on her respiratory background.

  • Dr Arup Sen, Consultant Physician in Geriatric, Stroke, and General Internal Medicine

    Sets the thresholds for reporting weight gain, breathlessness and swelling to the GP.

  • Danielle Freeth, Psychotherapist and Psychological Lead (Cancer)

    Guides staff on the anxiety that comes with breathlessness and palpitations, adjustment after a cardiac event, and the low mood common in heart failure. Coaches staff to reassure a resident while pacing activity.

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Framework 05

Post-Acute Stroke

The post-acute stroke period is a critical window for recovery and rehabilitation, requiring coordinated, multidisciplinary care to maximise functional outcome and reduce the risk of secondary events. Our Post-Acute Stroke Framework supports care teams in delivering structured rehabilitation routines, swallowing and nutrition management, medication adherence, and emotional wellbeing support — all aligned to national stroke rehabilitation guidance and developed by clinical stroke specialists. The framework includes staff training pathways and outcome tracking tools to ensure rehabilitation progress is monitored, documented, and reviewed with appropriate clinical oversight.

Key Focus Areas

  • Rehabilitation routines
  • Swallow management
  • Emotional wellbeing
  • Secondary prevention

Who does what

  • Dr Sheel Mehta, Founder, Clinical Director and Oncology Lead

    Holds clinical oversight. Signs off the red flags and the rehabilitation routine, and owns the clinical review points built into the framework.

  • Dr Arup Sen, Consultant Physician in Geriatric, Stroke, and General Internal Medicine

    Defines the red flags (new weakness, speech change, a suspected TIA) and the secondary prevention routine of blood pressure checks and medicines adherence. Stroke Clinical Governance Lead at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery.

  • Kelly Thompson, Senior Physiotherapist

    Writes a daily rehabilitation routine that care staff can carry out between therapy sessions, covering safe transfers and falls, and builds the outcome tracking tool.

  • Charlotte Foster, Specialist Dietitian and Nutrition Lead

    Plans texture-modified menus and mealtime set-up around speech and language therapy guidance.

  • Danielle Freeth, Psychotherapist and Psychological Lead (Cancer)

    Guides staff on post-stroke low mood, anxiety and identity change.

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Ready to Discuss Your Setting?

Every care setting is different. We work with you to identify the frameworks most relevant to your residents and design an implementation plan that works for your team.

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