By Mark Davies BBC News Online political reporter

They may have differences when it comes to health policy, but MPs from both sides of the house were agreed on one thing on Wednesday.

The clever machine which can test for bone disease in a matter of minutes is actually quite fun to have a go on.

We were in a far corner of Portcullis House, just over the road from the Commons, where male MPs were being offered the chance to pop in to a committee room-turned clinic for a super-quick MOT health test.

The makeshift clinic was created in an office near the Commons

A steady stream of MPs - most, it seems from the Tory health team, suggesting something of a three-line whip from shadow health secretary Liam Fox - lined up to receive a detailed health assessment.

In one corner of the room a Tory MP sat with one sock off while his bone density was assessed, while in another a Labour MP looked on earnestly as Dr Steve Olhsen tested his cholesterol and blood sugar levels.

It's fair to say that there are more jowly chins and bulging waistlines in the Commons that the average health professional would like to see.

'Pleased'

Add to that the furrowed brows caused by thwarted ambition and the demands of the whips office, not to mention the endlessly fascinating debates, and you can see how stress levels among MPs may also be a little higher than they should be.

Tory MP David Amess undergoes the blood test

The event on Wednesday, part of Men's Health Week, was run by the British In Vitro Diagnostics Association (BIVDA) and aimed at encouraging men to take more care of themselves and promoting the early-warning benefits of screening for heart disease, diabetes and the like.

First in the queue was Labour MP for Tooting, Tom Cox, who said his results were "OK - which pleased me enormously".

After receiving a detailed assessment of a blood test - just a tiny pin prick and then a print out four minutes later - he said the "unorthodox" life of the MP meant his colleagues should all take advantage of the state-of-the-art tests.

"Men do not show the same interest in their health care as women do and we need to build these facilities through the UK to change attitudes, and thankfully this is happening," he said.

"We talk about prevention, now lets ensure the money is there.

'Unorthodox'

"As MPs, the hours and the votes here mean it is rare that you know when you will get a chance to eat, and the calls on your time are great.

Mr Cox also had his bone density checked

"So we do lead very unorthodox lives and the workloads we have can lead to enormous pressure. Some handle it better than others, but anyone who works here would be foolish to ignore this sort of opportunity."

Those of Mr Cox's colleagues who did turn up on Wednesday were offered the chance to get an assessment of their cholesterol as well as fatty acids and glycerol levels, with the figures collated to provide a risk level for a heart attack in the next ten years.

After further blood pressure tests and a quick go on the bone density test - which looked something like a foot massage machine - and a few minutes later they were back in the corridors and ready for action.

Dr Ohlsen, who works for the Point of Care medical services company, a BIVDA member, sees scope for providing such hi-tech equipment in supermarkets and pharmacies, saying it can cost as little as �7 a go.

'Easy'

Tory health spokesman Simon Burns underwent the tests, as did Conservative colleague David Amess, and declared his results "brilliant".

We do lead very unorthodox lives and the workloads we have can lead to enormous pressure

Tom Cox MP

"Most health services are concerned with when people are ill or have had an accident," he said.

"These tests are easy and can give results within minutes. We need to see greater encouragement of the use of such tests so that people can pick up if they are developing problems so that early intervention can take place to help them."

Pleasingly for those MPs who visited the makeshift health centre, there were no cases providing cause for concern among the BIVDA doctors. None of those who visited, they said, were in imminent danger of keeling over in the Commons.

And all it had taken to reach this happy finding was a tiny pin-prick for a drop of blood and a detailed print-out was available in five minutes. If only everything in Westminster worked so quickly.