The move follows Tuesday's decision by the health board to stand by its plan to stop paying for 30 beds.

A recent public meeting on the hospice's future, organised by Mr McNulty, was attended by over 400 people, many from Bearsden and Milngavie. However, there was no show from health board chairman Tom Divers, who was invited.

The meeting heard details of a report sent to hospice chairman Leo Martin, which stated: "It is recommended that the board no longer purchase a continuing care service from St Margaret's from April 2009 and close 30 beds in South Glasgow in the same timescale and a further 30 the following year."

The report recommended that St Margaret's be encouraged to "shift the type of care provided there to a social care model in partnership with the health board's local authority colleagues."

But Mr McNulty said: "St Margaret's is noted for its highly specialised care of the terminally ill — it should be up to the health authority to make provision for residential and mental health care, without putting St Margaret's at risk and jeopardising continuing care and palliative care beds, compromising the ethos of the hospice."

Cross-party support has been pledged to Mr McNulty's campaign to save the status quo at the Clydebank hospice and he has been backed by Tory Jackson Carlaw, LibDem Ross Finnie and SNP Gil Paterson, all of whom spoke at the recent meeting, which was also attended by MP Jo Swinson and Milngavie Councillor Eric Gotts. Messages of support were also sent from John McFall MP and David Whitton MSP.

Mr McNulty added: "The next step is for a cross-party group of MSPs to meet Nicola Sturgeon asking her to intervene with the health board decision. In response to earlier correspondence Ms Sturgeon has claimed the proposals should be seen in the context of the policy intention of extending more care in the community.

"But terminally ill people using the palliative care beds in the hospice and many of the patients who are referred to the hospice for continuing care are people who can no longer be looked after in the community — either by relatives or through day-care services.

"These are people who it is not appropriate to keep in hospital and for whom the hospice is an ideal environment. Their interests should be paramount."

Marjorie McCance from Milngavie, who set up and delivered a petition to the Scottish Government calling for the status quo at St Margaret's, said: "It's crucial that the future of the hospice is secured so that the highly trained staff can get on with the wonderful work for which they are trained and committed to providing."

NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde Board agreed during a meeting on Tuesday that it has a surplus of NHS continuing care beds but that the chairman and chief executive would take forward discussions with the hospice to try and identify an agreeable alternative funding arrangement for the change of use of 30 NHS continuing care beds.

It was agreed that chief executive Tom Divers and chairman Andrew Robertson would progress talks with St Margaret's in a bid to find agreement as to alternative funding arrangements and use of the beds and report back to the board at its meeting on June 24.

The board made it clear that it was committed to pursuing a successful two-way dialogue with the management and chair of St Margaret's and recorded its hope that the hospice is now ready to engage on a change of use of beds with a funding package that avoids financial risk to St Margaret's.