Officers who carry guns are thought to need mental health tests

A Home Office working party is looking at the possibility of periodic interviews or questionnaires to see if officers are coping with the mental strain of their work or losing sleep because of stress.

Officers who routinely carry guns, work undercover or investigate paedophiles are among those who, it is thought, would benefit from regular medicals.

Those who feel under pressure could then receive further professional help.

Chief Superintendent, Mike McAndrew, of the Superintendents' Association, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme there was a "macho culture" in the police which made it difficult for officers suffering stress-related problems to seek help.

Sickness levels

He said: "What happens now is the responsibility rests with the individual and their line managers and that's a real problem as line mangers aren't trained to recognise stress.

"They also have professional responsibility for the individual so individuals will be concerned about confidentiality if they go to their line manager with problems which may affect whether they continue to do a job which may cause them stress, but which they enjoy doing."

He said the proposal had resulted from government concern about occupational health in the police, and in particular the high level of sickness among officers.

Scotland Yard is already putting a limit on the amount of time officers spend in its specialist paedophile unit amid fears over their mental health.

Nine detectives from the unit are being transferred to other departments.

We need to be mindful of the impact the nature of the work has on their health Metropolitan Police's paedophile unit

However the move has come under attack from critics who say it will leave the unit lacking the experienced staff it desperately needs.

The unit tracks down Britain's worst child sex offenders and their work involves looking at images of children being tortured, humiliated and sexually abused.

Concerns have been raised about the welfare of officers who have to carry out these tasks routinely.

In future, service will be limited to three years.

A spokesman for the Metropolitan Police's paedophile unit, said: "The Met has a responsibility towards its officers working in a specialist and challenging environment.

"As such, we need to be mindful of the impact the nature of the work has on their health."