Carla Summerfield (née Crozier, also known as Leach) is a fictional character on the New Zealand soap opera Shortland Street, who was portrayed by Elisabeth Easther from early 1995 to mid 1996.

[2] Owing to the character's psychotic nature, Easther struggled to get work for several years and was even replaced in a nappy commercial so as not to scare children.

[1] Producers decided to reintroduce Carla in 2021 in an attempt to, "play to the nostalgia and [to] bring in viewers who remember that time on Shortland Street to come back and reengage with that show again."

Whilst carrying out a blind-folded team bonding exercise, Carla intentionally fell down a large cliff and the two sisters finally reconciled when Ellen nursed her back to health.

Carla instantly clashed with fellow nurse Tiffany Pratt (Alison James) due to jealousy of her beauty, relationships, and career, falling out with her partner Chris Warner (Michael Galvin).

She began to blackmail Tiffany when she discovered her Hepatitis C diagnosis and spiked Ellen's dinner with marijuana so she failed her mandatory drug test.

Ellen was shocked when Carla began to date her ex-boyfriend Bernie Leach (Timothy Bartlett) and the two soon eloped in what appeared to already be an unhappy marriage.

To ensure he would not leave her, Carla faked a pregnancy and subsequently a miscarriage after a minor car-crash whilst teaching her niece Minnie (Katrina Devine) to drive.

The two were injured when an earthquake hit Ferndale and a bloodied Bernie insulted Carla, resulting in her battering him to death with a candlestick, framing the scene to look like a casualty from the quake.

After hypnotising Chris Warner into forgetting her past, Carla soon landed a job at the hospital as a counsellor and developed a strong bond with Nicole, manipulating her through her sessions into isolating herself from friends and family.

"[2] An intense jealousy toward Ellen leads to Carla carrying out countless villainous acts including spiking her food so that she would fail a medical test.

[6] Airing as Shortland Street's 1000th episode,[6] the storyline involved an earthquake hitting Ferndale and Carla using the opportunity to kill Bernie Leach (Timothy Bartlett) in the aftermath.

[9] The scene required extensive special effects including blood and bruising makeup which had to be cut due to the 7pm screening time,[2] and rigged sets to emulate an earthquake.

"[4] Carla made a significant impact on Shortland Street viewers, with Easther becoming highly recognisable in public despite her original short stint.

[13] Woman's Day Editor Sebastian van der Zwan named Carla as his favourite character and had been lobbying the show's publicists for a return prior to her 2021 reappearance.